Love & Paper Flowers
by Alliehalliwell
Summary: AU KyleOC. Basically Kyle's death in Red Rock was an elaborate set up by Lyle... What would Kyle do if he had a choice between finding his family or staying with the woman he loved? Up to Ch 21 complete!
1. Chapter 1

Pretender – AU. S2 and beyond. No Ethan, no inner sense, no clone. Age change, to what I think would be more appropriate…well…to my story anyways. Allie's 21, Kyle's 25, and Jarod's 29. Hey it's AU anything can happen. Also, since I thought Kyle was too young to be in prison for 10 years and his age is now different, I'm just pretending he was in jail a lot less.

Note – suggestions (as long as they're not mean) are welcome. Mainly a Kyle/Allie story but will try to throw in some action every now and then….and I must warn you I love happy endings (and I'm a fan of 'love at first sight') so there will be some sappy stuff.

* * *

Kyle stumbled out onto the ground, wearing only a hospital gown. He drew in deep breaths, lifting up his head. It was bright and sunny but cold. The brightness hurt his eyes and it only reminded him of the first time he had escaped. 

He was in a parking lot and vaguely remembered the minutes before when he had run, with a half-healed wound in his back, through the city. He knew it was a plastic surgery, in an attempt to make the bullet wound a few months ago seem non-existent. So they could start re-education and make him believe he never left prison in the first place. It was New York. No one thought twice about an escaped hospital patient.

Kyle got to his feet and looked around. He spotted a man in a suit talking on his cell phone. The suit was nice so the man had money. It was easy to follow him even dressed as he was because no one wanted to look at him for fear of provoking him.

When the man entered a parking lot, Kyle ran up from behind and knocked him out. The man fell to the ground like a sac of potatoes. Kyle searched his pockets and found a set of keys. He pressed the button and heard a car beep behind him. He turned and did it again. A silver Lexus' lights blinked.

Kyle dragged his victim over to the car and stripped him of everything but the boxers. He had his own, thankfully, he was spared that humiliation. Kyle put the clothes on himself and took the cash from the man's wallet. He felt a little guilty about knocking the man out, but he didn't have much choice. He'd be spotted if he couldn't find clothes or money for food.

This particular crime was common for him. Mugging. He had 3 charges on his record for it and every time it had been because he needed money. Unlike those times, this mugging wasn't when he was young. Back then it had started with muggings, then a desperate need for answers and trying to beat information out of some of the men who had connections with the Centre. Then the kidnapping of Harriet Tashman. He had no intention of harming her. At least he remembered it that way. He just was good at scaring.

The twinge of guilt prompted Kyle to lean the man against the pillar nearby and leave the jacket and phone with him. He wiped down for fingerprints and took off.

* * *

Allie sat at the bar and drew in her sketchbook. It was slow. Usually, there would be about a dozen patrons in the east Buffalo bar. Tonight there were six. 

She grabbed the smudger and carefully blended in the graphite and led pencil on the paper. A simple image of an old lady eating a sandwich at a bus station transformed into a complex drawing with a beautiful blend of lights and shadow.

She sighed and absentmindedly signed the picture, hiding her signature in the picture like she normally did so that it wouldn't distract from the art itself.

She shut the book then checked the clock. 2:45am. God was she tired. Allie rubbed her eyes and put the sketchbook away and finished cleaning up. About a half hour later, Frankie, one of the bouncers, waved to her. "Ready?"

She nodded, grabbed her purse and followed him out of the bar. He made sure she got into the cab alright.

* * *

Kyle unconsciously flinched, having to push open the heavy door more than normal. The doors needed oil on the hinges. His wound was almost completely healed but some things still made the wound ache. 

The bar was anything other than glamorous but then, most bars were.

"We're closed."

Kyle went up to the manager, who wore a suit and tie but no jacket and currently was going through the books. "I'm here for the job."

"Oh…right." He stopped what he was doing. "I'll need to see a resume."

Kyle gave his to the man.

He had stayed up in New York for a couple weeks to take time to re-cooperate since he hadn't felt strong enough. Right now he was doing research, trying to track Jarod because he couldn't follow Parker and the others or they would find out now. Security was tighter than ever and he wasn't about to press his luck.

Now he needed money and he didn't like mugging people for it. That was only done when there wasn't any other choice.

The manager read over the resume and gave a nod. "I see you have a few years under your belt."

Kyle furrowed his brow at the expression but said nothing.

"Wait here." The manager went to the back and came out a few minutes later, checking on the reference Kyle had set up. Everything checked out. "Welcome aboard." He shook Kyle's hand.

The pretender smirked, pleased that he had fooled people yet again.

Allie rushed to the door, carrying a few books with her that didn't fit into her purse. She opened the door and was nearly thrown by its weight. She still wasn't used to it. She tripped, falling onto her knees, dropping all of the books.

She sighed, tucked her hair behind her ear and started gathering them up.

Kyle turned, hearing the loud irritating shrill as the door opened. He did _not_ expect to see what he did.

The humour of the situation passed him as his heart raced, his eyes widened, his palms became sweaty and his mouth became dry. Everything just seemed to move in slow motion.

Allie stood up, giving a shake of her head, tossing her hair from her face. Then she started over to the back room.

Kyle followed her with his eyes, wondering what was wrong with him. He suddenly felt dizzy and…scared. But why would he? She didn't seem like any kind of threat to him. He had a good 5 inches in height over her, and she was small. Thin and toned, with an hourglass figure. He couldn't help but notice her generous chest and curved hips and cute little backside.

He only wished he got a better look at her face.

"…and once it's closing time, if any of the waitresses are still around you'll need to walk them to their car or wait until a cab picks them up."

Kyle blinked and turned to the manager. "Why?"

"For their safety."

He stared at him, not seeing what he meant.

The manager raised his eyebrows. "I guess you didn't have to do that in your other jobs…" he sighed. "We always make sure the women are escorted so nothing happens to them…" He had to explain further and wondered if Kyle really was as good as his resume said, or if he was just as dense in that area as well. He decided to give him the benefit of the doubt…at least until proven otherwise.

Kyle felt sick to his stomach when he was told why women needed escorts. There were some things even _he_ wouldn't do and forcing a woman to…well he never would have dreamed of doing that.

The manager led him to the back room. "This is the employee lounge…yeah not glamorous but it's enough…free coffee there…lockers there…" he went up to one and pulled the name taped on it, off. "This one's yours."

Kyle vaguely listened to him. A couple of the waitresses were getting ready, including Allie. He noticed she had changed in the short time of her arrival. She now wore jeans instead of the long skirt he had seen her come in wearing, a black t-shirt, and she wasn't wearing high heels any longer.

Allie finished tying her runners and put her high heels in the locker. She then swept her hair up into a ponytail, looking in the tiny mirror in her locker.

Kyle vaguely heard the manager tell him about where the coffee and everything was.

"And these lovely ladies are two of our waitresses…Megan…" he motioned to the blonde, then to the long dark haired brunette. "And Allie...this is Kyle our new bartender."

Kyle's heart skipped, glad to hear her name, and pleased that it was pretty, just like her.

Allie looked up.

She felt something hit her. Suddenly she couldn't breathe, yet at the same time, she finally could. Her mother's voice echoed in her head. _"I knew as soon as I saw him that I was going to marry your father." _Allie swallowed and smiled sheepishly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Hi."

He felt himself melting at her smile. But he couldn't speak or smile, or respond. He just blinked.

"Let's go over the register one more time…" their boss, Mr. Donaldson said and led Kyle out of the room.

Allie forced herself to turn around. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she saw her pink lip gloss on the shelf in front of her. She took it and put it on then looked herself over one more time before shutting the locker.

"I saw that." Megan said, hanging up her sweater.

"Sorry?" she blinked innocently.

"Nothing." Megan smirked and finished getting ready.

The whole night, Allie forced herself not to stare at the new bartender, but she managed glances every so often.

Kyle did everything he could to get Allie to look at him, flipping the bottles, setting zambuca on fire…but she seemed to be immune. It annoyed the hell out of him.

For three days, it was the same. She would manage a polite hello but then not talk to him at all the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing of The Pretender or its characters. Allie is my own but other than that, some plot ideas and the characters don't belong to me.

* * *

Kyle glared at Allie. _What was her problem?_ He didn't do anything to her and she was pissed off at him. Even some of the ladies coming into the bar seemed okay with him…though it was possible they had some drinks before coming here. 

Allie collected some glasses from the table and brought them over to bar. She glanced uneasily at Kyle.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as her heart sped up and gave another sheepish smile.

"Another beer?" He asked, glancing at the machine instead of looking at her.

"No…they're leaving."

He met her eyes. She wasn't leaving. "Is there something you wanted?"

"No." She said but hovered.

"Then why are you standing there?"

She sighed, turned, and left.

He furrowed his brow, confused.

Allie wiped down some of the tables. Megan said she was going to take off since the last table was Allie's. A couple minutes later, the last patrons left, followed by the bouncer/security guard.

Kyle was stuck with her alone.

He tidied up, spending a little too much time on the task. Generally, he found bartending a simple thing. Memorizing facts, learning a few tricks at the bar, then the rest was simple routine…fake a smile and go with it. It wasn't bad. But with Allie there…god he hated it!

He let his eyes follow her around the room again, while he wiped an already clean glass again.

Allie put up the last chair on the table and went over to the last booth, where the last patrons had been staying. She leaned over, and started wiping the table with the washcloth…back and forth, back and forth, then in a circular pattern. A few strands of hair fell into her face but she swept them back, only to have them fall again.

She set Kyle's imagination wild.

Allie leaned over further, to grab the last two shot glasses. Kyle could see down her shirt and he got a hint of the black bra she had on underneath.

Allie started over to the bar when she saw Kyle looking at his hand. Blood was lined all over it. "Oh my god." She hurried forward, put the glasses on the bar. "What happened?"

He blinked at her. "Oh…I was just…" He couldn't tell her that he accidentally crushed the shot glass because he was so frustrated from staring at her. "I uh…I dropped this."

She grabbed the dry cloth from her apron, then his hand. She put the cloth on it. "I didn't hear a glass break." She looked at him concerned.

_Her hands are so small compared to mind…and she's so short… _"The towel…it fell on the towel." He said lamely but was glad when she didn't press further.

Allie checked his hand. "There's a first aid kid…" she let go of his hand and started to the back room.

"I don't need-"

"Yes you do!" she called out, disappearing quickly down the hall. She came back a minute later and started going through it.

"I don't need it I'm fine."

"Noooo you're not." She sifted through the kit and took some things out.

Kyle grabbed the bottle she took out. "Iodine? What's that for?"

"To clean your wound." She grabbed his hand and laid it flat then studied it closely.

His heart raced so fast he wondered if he'd have a coronary. _Why can't I breathe? What is she doing to me? Am I ill? Is she ill? Did I catch this from her?_ He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. The only thing behind his lids was an image of her, just as it was when he went to sleep at night, or any other time during the day.

"Okay um…I don't see any glass." Allie let go of his hand to open the bottle.

Kyle opened his eyes and watched her, a suspicious look permanently stuck on his face.

Allie opened the bottle. "Okay I doubt you need stitches because your cuts don't look deep…I think." He only had a couple cuts in his palm. Allie dropped iodine on the first one.

Kyle drew in a sharp breath and yanked his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?!" He gripped his hand painfully.

"Wha-I'm sorry! You need to have it cleaned!"

"Well I don't need you to torture me!"

"I'm not 'torturing' you I'm helping you." She frowned at him.

"Yeah right. Look, just get out of here."

"No you need your hand cleaned." She reached forward to grab his hand.

"Go!!" He yelled loudly.

She put her hands on her hips for a second, glaring at him. "Stop yelling."

"NO, get out of here!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her hips. "I'm just trying to help!"

"Listen 'sweetheart' I'm not that stupid so don't you think I'm going to buy your bullshit." He heard a few men at the bar call her that.

"DON'T call me that!" she uncrossed her arms and every so often waved them around. "And for god's sake what's the big deal?! EVERYONE gets iodine poured on them at some point in their life and I THOUGHT you did, I mean, I got scraped up sometimes as a kid, everyone does and iodine always gets used to clean the cuts…it goes on, we scream, the pain goes away, then we try to get rid of the yellow stains it left on us…and the fact that you, a grown man can't take the iodine but kids everywhere have, really tells me something about you!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kyle grabbed the bottle and dropped the iodine into his palm, steeling a face for her, proving he wasn't a wimp like she was implying.

She flinched then took the bottle from him then put it away. "Don't pretend it doesn't hurt I'm not _that_ stupid." She threw his words back in his face.

Kyle smirked at her.

She grabbed his hand. He pulled away, still smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes, sighing. "I promise I won't hurt you." He tensely let her take his hand.

Kyle inwardly was cursing at the searing pain the iodine caused and wondered how any child could be expected to endure this.

Allie brought his hand up and gently blew across his palm.

The searing pain eased into a dull ache, and the feel of her breath against his skin was rather…pleasant.

"Is this helping at all?"

"Ye-" he cleared his throat. "Yes." He stared at her. He had screamed at her and she still was being nice to him?

Allie blew on his hand for a little while longer than let go of his hand and opened up some of the bandages. Once the final band aide was on, she informed him; "You know…when men try to seem like they're invincible…they just look like idiots."

He frowned. "Thanks." He said bitterly.

"No, I only meant-"

"I got it." He glared at her.

"I just-"

"Get your coat or I'll leave without you."

She clenched her fists, frustrated, then hurried to get ready. Her frustration calmed a little when she saw the lights all turned off and only the Christmas lights hung around the room and glowed prettily.

She buttoned up her long white winter coat. "Um…do you have a car? Could you drive me home?"

Kyle looked at her annoyed. "What about your car?"

"Look I'm only asking because I called for a cab because I don't have a car, and the taxis won't run when it's this bad out." She snapped at him.

"Why are you pissed now?" He glared at her.

"I'm not 'pissed' I'm annoyed and you know why." She pulled on her toque furiously, then her big red fake crocodile purse forcefully over her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused more than anything.

"It was in your tone!" She pulled on her gloves. "Now are you going to give me a ride or will I have to wait for a bus that won't show up?"

"NOW what are you talking about?"

She huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Buses don't operate past 1:30am and even then, women can't wait alone at a bus stop or we'll be attacked. Now if you want my bloody corpse on your conscience then I suggest-"

"God alright! If it'll shut you up but I don't have a car…I walk here."

"Fine then you can walk with me."

"Fine I will!" He yanked open the door, not even realizing that he waited until she stepped through it before stepping outside.

The snow was high, and it was still snowing.

Kyle had the sudden urge to shove Allie into a snow bank. The mental image brought a mischievous smile to his face.

"Oooh it's so beautiful!" Allie smiled at the sight before them.

Kyle furrowed his brow in confusion. One second she was pissed off at him and now she was calm. "Are you manic depressive?"

She turned to him and giggled. "No, why?"

"Uh…no reason."

"I wish I had a camera right now. It's just…perfect."

"The snow?"

She gave a small nod to that.

"I like snow." Kyle said simply.

"It never stays pretty very long here…at least not from my experience so far." They were quiet for a couple minutes until they walked to the end of the street.

Allie stopped in front of a big section of untouched snow, thinking about jumping in, and smiled at Kyle.

"What?" He turned his head, annoyed from the cold.

She frowned. "You don't have gloves or anything? You really should."

"Thanks." He said sarcastically.

Allie took off her toque and pulled it onto Kyle's head, making sure his ears were covered.

Kyle studied her perplexed.

"Your head's bigger than mine."

He smiled softly, suddenly calm and amused. "That's because I'm a genius. My brain's bigger."

She smiled amused. "Are you implying I'm NOT a genius?"

He frowned. "No that's not-"

"I'll have you know there's a lot of different kinds of intelligence…book smarts, street smarts…amazing social skills…and a plethora of other types."

Kyle wondered why she was smiling if he had just unintentionally insulted her.

Allie turned and stepped into the snow bank then laid down.

"What are you doing?" He asked like she sprung three heads.

"Making snow angels." She did just that while he looked at her like she was mental.

Allie then got up and stepped out of angel. "See? An angel." She tilted her head, smiling softly at the snow angel.

Kyle stared at her. "Yeah." His heart raced quickly at the sudden realization. It was so obvious he couldn't believe it never crossed his mind. Some genius. It took him three days to realize he was in love. Not even the day dreams about having a family with Allie clued him in. He just thought it was attraction and maybe an infatuation. But neither of those things fit with what he felt or thought.

He was actually in love.

He never thought it would happen…and Allie actually was talking to him. Did he have a chance with her? _No one would ever love me…especially not her. She's so…neurotic? Anxious? Sweet? Beautiful? …perfect._

Allie looked at him. "You're not going to make one?"

"Oh…no. I'm fine."

"Come on." She grabbed his arm. He pulled his arm away a bit but she was determined. "Come on…embrace your inner child." She smiled. "I'm not above begging."

Kyle rolled his eyes and did as she did, laying in the snow and start moving his arms and legs. "When's the fun going to kick in?"

Allie finished making her angel and grabbed a clump of snow. "Now!" She threw it on him. She giggled and started to get up but she tripped over her own foot, landing face first in the snow.

Kyle, who was already ready to shove some snow in her face burst out laughing. It was the funniest thing he ever saw.

Allie lifted her head, wiped her face and rolled onto her back and sat up, wiping her face some more. "Gross."

Kyle helped her up, grinning still. "You're really graceful you know that?"

She brushed herself off, smiling softly. "Thanks I try." She started walking again, Kyle kept to her side.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Learn what?"

"Those…angels."

"Snow angels?" She asked curiously. "Oh…I just thought everyone knew about those…but maybe it's just a girly…kid thing…well at least I learned it as a kid in Rhode Island."

"Is that where you grew up?" he asked, feeling somewhat at ease with her.

She nodded. "A middle of nowhere town called Hope Valley." She glanced sideways at him. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

She smiled. "Where'd you grow up?"

"It doesn't matter."

_That bad? _Allie wondered. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Okay…."

"How did you get that scar on your hand?"

"Oh." He frowned. "Uh…my brother…he uh…he didn't mean to…but there was an…accident with some acid."

"Acid? As in…acid?" she flinched. "God that must have hurt like the Dickens."

He blinked at her, giving her a strange look.

Allie blushed. "Um…I mean…like hell." She tucked her hair behind her ear feeling like the biggest nerd. People just didn't say that sort of thing here.

Kyle shrugged, hoping to talk about something else. "You don't like being a waitress."

"I don't?"

"No." he snickered, remembering the face she made every time some guy looked her body over, the way she wearily took drinks to the patrons, and how she mumbled under her breath every time a new customer came in. "So why do you do it?"

"Because I need the money. Why are you a bartender?"

He shrugged. "Same I guess."

They were both quiet for a minute, thinking. Allie broke the silence. "What's your dream career?"

"Huh?"

"What job would you want if you weren't a bartender? Training and all that put aside…what would you WANT to be?"

He blinked, a few ideas popping into his head. "I don't know."

She studied him. "Well I guess we're still young enough."

"For what?"

"For a career…I mean you're what…27?"

He frowned. "25." _I think._

She shrugged. "Yeah so you're only a couple years behind…I will be too."

"Behind? What are you talking about?" He was never 'behind' anything. Once he studied something he mastered it and that was that.

"A career…people start either when they're straight out of high school or when they're done college…but I guess it doesn't matter until you start wanting a family. I haven't started my career yet but I do know one of the things I want to do."

Kyle's interest was peaked and he wanted to know what the difference was between a job and a career but he didn't want her to wonder why he didn't know.

For the rest of the 12 blocks Allie made small talk, trying to get him to open up and talk to her about something but he was remarkably silent.

Allie thanked him for walking her home then slipped inside her apartment.

Kyle went back to his motel and tried to get some sleep. But he couldn't. He couldn't get the events of the night out of his head, and since Allie insisted on him wearing her toque back to his place, he still had it. It smelled faintly like strawberries. He didn't know why and he couldn't figure it out.

He didn't know anything about scented shampoos.

* * *

Allie tied on her apron and went up to the bar. "Hi." 

"Hi." Kyle said nervously.

"Um…about last night…I didn't mean to sound…pushy or like I was lecturing because I wasn't…I was just thinking about jobs and stuff lately so I was curious I mean…I didn't…sorry."

_She's apologizing for that?_ _Have I even ever gotten an apology for something? _He couldn't remember it. "Uh…it's fine."

"Really? Okay…good." She smiled and started to get to work.

Halfway through the shift, Allie sat at the bar and took out a book and a notebook and started making some notes on it.

"What're you reading?" Kyle asked interested.

Allie lifted up the cover so he could read it.

"Stained glass, sculptures, and glass art?"

"I'm taking a couple classes on it." She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"But I thought you said you had another job too."

_You were actually listening to me? _She blinked. "Yeah…but that's only for a few hours during the day and the classes are every Tuesday and Thursday for three hours in the afternoon.

"Why?"

"Why?" She wondered where the rest of the sentence was.

"Why are you taking the classes when you already work?"

She shrugged. "To get a job doing something I like…and I guess to learn."

He studied her and an awkward silence passed between them. Allie looked down and went back to writing in her notebook.

Kyle wanted to keep talking to her. To keep her attention. "You want a drink?"

"No thanks." She looked up briefly, about to look down but saw something change in his eyes. Disappointment. She blinked at him, wishing he didn't affect her like this. It was too…complicated. "Actually…maybe some water?"

He nodded and poured her a glass then put it next to her. "We have pretzels too."

Allie smiled. "I'm fine with the water. Thank you."

He nodded, feeling himself melting. He wondered how she could physically cause him to feel that way. None of the biology books could explain it. He avoided watching her all night, reminding himself every few seconds not to look at her.

Allie politely said goodnight and left. Kyle paced, disappointed and angry with himself. All he wanted was to be the one to take her home and relive how great the previous night was.

* * *

A few nights later… 

Allie dozed off during her break, her arm resting on the bar and her right hand relaxed, dropping the pencil.

Kyle studied her for a second then curiously rotated the sketchbook around. He started from the beginning and flipped the pages. Page after page was filled with incredible artworks, colourful drawings, many in black and white, and some he didn't even know what they were. There was so structure to it. Abstract. Still, it was all remarkable. He flipped the blank pages, disappointed that there weren't more. But that's when he saw something. There was a picture of himself…about seven pages after the blank ones began. She was hiding the pictures. There were three drawings all of him. One in conte, one in pencil, and one in pencil crayon, all very realistic. One picture was even of him smiling.

He looked at Allie seriously and hoped his heart was right. _Could she really feel something for me? _

He heard her exhale louder than normal, Kyle quickly returned the book as it was and pretended to be cleaning a glass. Allie came to seconds later.

"Oh man…" Allie yawned, trying to cover her mouth. "I really need sleep."

"You'd get better sleep if it weren't on the bar." Kyle smirked at her, his heart leaping at the idea she could really care for him.

She checked her watch and looked around. "I guess I have to get back to work." She sighed and did just that.

When the shift ended, Allie went up to Kyle. "Can I help?"

"Why?"

She smiled and came around to the other side of the bar. "Why are you so suspicious all the time?"

"I'm not." He said resentfully.

"Yes you are. You seem a little jumpy sometimes too. Like you're waiting for someone to pop out and shoot you." She smirked. "You're not a spy are you?"

He smiled. "Yeah I am."

"And they make you work here?" she teased, wiping one of the glasses dry. "They don't pay you enough."

"That's what I keep telling them."

Allie put the receipts from her apron into the drawer below the cash register. "Hey, are you going to the Christmas party on Friday?"

"Christmas party?" he asked confused.

"Oh I thought they asked you already…apparently every year, Mr. Donaldson throws a party for all of his employees. It'll be my first year going too but…if you want to bring anyone you can…that is if you're going."

"Oh…uh…what…" he asked nervously, not trying to sound like an idiot asking what exactly happens at a party. "What is it going to be like?"

She shrugged. "Typical stuff I would think. Music, dancing, drinking. Though I don't know about any entertainment. The last Christmas party I went to had a clown…I don't know why…but I hate clowns."

"Clowns? Dancing?"

"I know I know, but I really doubt clowns will be there and dancing…it's not like its ballroom dancing or anything. It'll all be casual I think." She looked up at him. "Oh."

"What?" he asked, wondering why she was looking at him like that.

He looked insecure and worried. Allie went on. "You can't dance?"

"I can…dance." He said defensively. "I'm just…rusty."

"I can teach you."

"I already-"

"You know…you get this look…every time you lie I can tell."

"What?"

"It's really not that difficult…I just watch your eyes and I can tell. Wait here." She left the room and came back with the radio from the 'lounge'. Kyle watched her amazed that she so easily picked up on his pretending.

Allie set up the radio and turned it on. "We'll try some fast songs first…but I need to warn you I'm not a great dancer…just mediocre."

Kyle watched and tried a few moves slowly, to get the movements down, just like she was demonstrating. Then they sped things up a little to match the song. A few times he stepped on her feet, and once he did it a third time, he turned off the radio. "Ready to go?"

"We're not done."

"I am, ready to go?"

She sighed. "Fine."

They got ready and he walked her home again, they were both quiet the whole way.

* * *

A couple days later at the Christmas party… 

Kyle uncomfortably went through the house, looking for Allie. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her. She wore a red dress with a white cardigan and knee highs that were red and green striped. Her hair was up in red and green ribbon that also had tiny bells on it. She didn't see him though and remained talking to some of the women there. When the conversation was over, Allie headed out of the kitchen through one of the other doors. Kyle followed.

She sat down in the den on the couch, to watch a Christmas movie that others in the room were watching.

Kyle stared at her from the doorway for a minute while the movie started, then went over and sat next to her.

She turned to him and smiled. "Hi. You made it." He gave a nod in response, his heart racing. "We're just watching this movie. You didn't miss much."

He nodded and they just watched the movie. Kyle watched her every so often, enjoying the movie, but also loving her reactions to it. Especially during the sad parts, she cried even though she knew it was ridiculous to cry during a movie.

When the movie ended, Allie turned to Kyle. He was relaxed. "I'm going to get a drink, did you want anything?"

"Oh uh…no." He said awkwardly.

Allie got up and left. Kyle watched her go and decided he did want something. He followed her.

Allie went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass and started to fill it up with a small amount of vodka. A man wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "What-" Allie turned around. "Nick I-"

He kissed her.

Kyle froze in the doorway, seeing them in an embrace, kissing.

Allie pushed Nick away from her. "What are-" she noticed Kyle looking shocked and extremely pissed off. "Kyle."

Nick pulled Allie close and tried to kiss her again. She pushed him away and hurried up to Kyle. "It's not…he's not…" She didn't know how to explain. Kyle looked so upset. "I'm not with him." She finally stuttered out.

He spat. "I'm not that stupid." He glared at her feeling betrayed.

Nick laughed. "You think you've got a chance with my girl?"

"Damnit Nick go!" Allie yelled distressed more than angered.

Kyle clenched his fists, picturing a hundred ways to break Nick's face. Instead, he left, figuring there was no reason for him to stay any longer.

Allie started after him but Nick grabbed her. "Let him go. You've got me." He smiled at her dopily, drunk.

"Nick!" she shoved him out of the way and hurried out of there.

She burst through the front door. Kyle was just reaching the end of the walkway. "Kyle!" He continued walking.

Allie ran after him even though she didn't have a coat on. "Kyle listen to me!" She caught up to him, only a couple feet behind him. "I know what it looked like but please…just…Kyle!" She grabbed his arm.

He turned to her, fuming. "Don't think you can't do that to me and just think that I'll take because I won't!"

"Damnit Kyle! I know you wouldn't hurt me!"

He smirked. "Really? Everyone else I know would say otherwise."

"Just…stop!" She drew in a deep breath. "I don't know why or how…but…I just…I know you. You wouldn't hurt me…and back there-"

"Save it." He turned and started walking again.

"But I love you." She said, barely audible.

Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. Allie hurried up and stood in front of him. "Nick and I…we grew up in the same town…we were dating only a couple months before he got accepted to the school here. He asked me to come and I just…I liked him and I had to got out of that town so I came…things weren't really serious between us-"

"I don't want to hear this!"

"We broke up!" She yelled, since it was the only thing to break through to him right now.

"What?"

"A few days ago…I told him we were over…we sort of were for the past couple months. I barely saw or spoke to him…this just wasn't official until now."

Kyle studied her suspiciously but he could tell she wasn't lying. She just wasn't good at lying, acting or pretending, he already knew that about her. "You and him…you're not…together anymore."

"Right." He wrapped his arms around herself.

Kyle tilted his head and studied her.

"Please say something."

"Where's your jacket?"

She flinched and her eyes stung. He was just going to ignore everything she just confessed? "Inside."

He nodded and moved past her towards the house. Allie followed curiously. She waited in the doorway while Kyle got her coat from the closet. He gave it to her. "Thank you." She took it and put it on.

Kyle studied her then noticed the mistletoe above the doorway. He only just discovered what it was a few days before. His heart raced.

Once Allie had her jacket on, Kyle grabbed her and pulled her close. She blinked at him. Kyle kissed her, his heart just about to burst from his chest.

Allie's eyes fluttered closed and she let out a whimper. The kiss was indescribable. Allie slipped her arms around his neck and began kissing him back.

Kyle smiled against her lips until she deepened it. Then he became even more nervous. He slowly mimicked her tongue, then he eased into the kiss more and his thoughts ended.

Kyle drew from the kiss and took a deep breath, emotionally. "Allie I…I love you…I can't explain…but…I do."

She rested her hands on his chest. "I love you too." She let out a breath. "I've dated before but I've never felt like this…it's…scary."

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. "I won't ever let anything happen to you. I'll never hurt you."

She hugged him tightly. "I don't know what's wrong with me…we shouldn't rush things…but…but I don't want to wait." Still, she was a 'good' girl and made that very clear to him later.

"I know." He shut his eyes, grateful that she understood.

They left and went back to Allie's and talked and made out for a little while. Kyle slept on the couch. He woke up halfway through the night with nightmares. He wouldn't talk about them and snapped at Allie when she tried to get him to. She learned quickly not to do that.

He stayed over several nights each week. By the second week, he relaxed enough after the nightmares to let Allie hold him and comfort him.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own The Pretender. It belongs to NBC and Fox.

Note - haven't had much time to work on this lately but these next few chapters are what I have so far.

* * *

Allie stared, completely focussed on the task at hand. She sat on her stool in the classroom, dragging her glass making tool across the bottom of the blue, white and teal glass vase she made and had let dry from the week before. It acted like a glue gun but instead of glue, it was with hot glass.

She created intricate swirls and loops around the bottom then delicately curved it up, gradually let it climb up and around the vase. When it got to the top, she took the glass loops that she made previously, that were cool and hard, and held them at the top of the vase. Allie soddered the fresh glass on and around the old loops, making it a delicate extension from the vase.

The end result looked very well put together and aside from a few a few mistakes on the bottom, it looked professional. She carefully picked it up and moved it over to the display shelf and cleaned up her area. A few other students were finishing up as well.

"Hi Cupcake."

- Flashback –

_Allie turned off the beaters and ran her finger along one of them, gathering the batter onto her finger. She then licked it off. "Mmmmm I could die it tastes so good."_

_Kyle watched her curiously. "You still haven't told me what it is."_

_"Does it matter?" She gathered more batter onto her finger._

_"Yeah. I don't know what it is." _

_She held the batter-covered finger up to his lips. "Try it."_

_He curiously started sucking the batter off her finger. He smiled at her. "Mmmm this IS good." He stuck his finger into the bowl. _

_"Hey! Wait Mr. Grabby, we need to fill the cups."_

_"Why? It already tastes good." _

_She smirked at the smile on his face and began putting the paper holders into the cupcake tray. He watched her fill them all in with the batter and pop the tray into the oven. Allie set the timer then turned to him._

_Kyle was licking the bowl with the spatula she had left in it. He froze, seeing that he was busted. He flashed a smile at her. Allie gave him a playful push. "Don't eat it all. I want some too."_

_He took the spatula, covered in the chocolate batter and held it up to her. She went in for a taste. He couldn't resist. Kyle smeared the batter on cheek. _

_"Uh!" Allie exclaimed shocked, a grin crossing her face. _

_He laughed and smeared the other side of the spatula across her mouth. "Now you're a cupcake."_

_"Uh!" She grabbed him by the shirt. "Just for that." She kissed him quickly then turned her head and rubbed her cheek against his, smearing the batter all over him as well. She giggled happily as they had a bit of a war with whatever batter was leftover. _

_Once their laughter died down, they started removing it. Kyle tried kissing and licking the batter off her face. __They ended up forgetting about any of the mess, and about anything in particular. Kyle held her close as their lips danced passionately._

- End of Flashback –

Allie smiled and turned around. "You're off early." She took a step forward and kissed him. He stole a quick peck on the lips after that. He had already gone back to the apartment and changed into something more comfortable. A pair of blue jeans, an Aerosmith t-shirt, a red plaid shirt and his winter coat. Allie was currently introducing him to various types of music, starting with rock. So far they had gone from the present all the way to the seventies. He really liked a few of the seventies bands.

"Yeah it was a simple computer virus…these big companies they think everything's a crisis…which one's yours?" He asked, looking over the pieces on the display table.

Allie showed him.

"Wow…that's cool." He leaned over and reached out for it.

"It's hot!" She grabbed his hand. "At least part of it is."

"You did a really good job. It's incredible." He kissed her cheek.

"Thanks…um…professor Berkley said he was going to mark it when I finished…do you think you could wait outside for me? Just in the hall."

He nodded. "Sure." He started out of the room, following the only other student that was left in the class.

Professor Berkley came over. "Is it ready for an evaluation?"

"Yep. Mark away."

Kyle sat down on the bench in the hall and waited. He could hear the two talking from inside the classroom.

The professor grew quiet while he scribbled the marks and comments on the paper in the binder he was holding. He then started back over to his desk, which was closer to the door. Allie fidgeted, waiting for her mark. She knew her piece was good but she wasn't about to brag or expect perfect. She knew she still had a lot to learn.

Professor Berkley recorded the mark in his computer then handed Allie the written evaluation.

She stared at the mark next to her name. 'C'. She looked at her professor. "I don't…I'm sorry? Why…I thought it was good."

"You have a lot to work on. Your signature is sloppy, and it's too delicate."

"But you said it doesn't have to have a use. It's just art."

"Yes but you mislead people to believe yours does have a use. If you do so, then it must be sturdy enough to withstand general ware. If anyone put flowers in that thing it would shatter."

Allie read her evaluation again and felt horrible. "I guess you're right…but…" she sighed. "I worked really hard on this. It took me a really long time to get the colours just right, and the shape of the vase even longer."

Berkley came around and leaned against his desk. "There is something you could do…from your grades it does look like you need it."

"I work a lot…but…what is it?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "How much do you want to make it through this program?"

"A lot. I really need to start getting better jobs to prepare for my future."

"Then you can do something for me…consider it…a favour…."

"Okay."

Berkley took her wrist and pulled her towards him gently.

Allie stopped. "What is this?" Her heart started to race, knowing what he wanted but she couldn't quiet believe it.

"Come on, it's no big deal. I do this all the time. You'll get your 'A' and I'll get…well…we'll both be satisfied." He pulled her against him and tried to kiss her.

Allie pushed him away. "What are you doing?!"

"Don't be a prude. If you want the grade-"

Kyle hurried into the room just in time to see the professor try to kiss Allie. She slapped him. The professor let go of her, shoving her back. "Just for that I can have you expelled."

Allie turned around, to face the doorway. Kyle was marching up, his eyes fierce and angry, focussed on the professor. She stepped in front of him. "Kyle take me home."

"After." He stepped aside.

She stepped in front of him. "Now. _Please_?"

He looked at Allie. She was so upset it made his heart ache. Her eyes watered and her voice broke. Kyle gave one last glare at the professor before putting an arm protectively around Allie and leaving. Getting her home to safety was his priority.

When they were back in her apartment, Allie just sat quietly on the couch.

Kyle studied her before going over to her. "I'll pay him a visit tomorrow. He won't hurt you ever again. I'll make sure that hand of his can't even pick up a spoon without putting him in so much pain he would wish he was dead."

She sighed but didn't look up at him.

He furrowed his brow in confusion. He expected some protest to the threat but since she didn't seem to care that meant she was even more upset by what had happened than he thought. The only other time he had seen her this way was when he told her about his past.

- Flashback -

_Allie didn't look at him. She just tried to breathe. He had told her everything. The kidnapping, the experiments and the sims at the Centre, he even confessed to his crimes and his prison stay. He just couldn't lie to her. Being only a couple hours before midnight on New Years he knew he couldn't start the New Year lying to her. _

_He had been terrified and he wasn't being rational. But then love wasn't rational._

_She was quiet for a long time before she spoke. Allie turned to him and studied his face. It all made sense now. How he could know about so many different subjects yet know little about how the world worked, how she was his first kiss, and how he didn't know anything relating to childhood. No games, toys, or everyday things children did._

_Kyle was a suspicious person and he didn't express any interest in getting to know other people. He just did his work and was eager to be with Allie. _

_"Is that everything? You didn't leave anything out?"_

"_No, that's everything." He looked at her confused. "I was really clear about that…if I wanted to leave something out I wouldn't have told you about kidnapping Harriet or biting that inmate's nose…" he paused. "Is that it? You think I DID bit his nose off? I told you, I drew blood but the rest was a rumour that I encourage so the other inmates would leave me alone. The guy only needed seven stitches."_

"_It just doesn't seem like you…to do that."_

_He blinked. "How would you know?"_

_"Kyle..." she put her hand on his. "Your nightmares…"_

_He looked down at her hand then at her. "Tell me right now. I don't want you to drag this out."_

_"You think…" she sighed. "I understand."_

_He flinched. "What?"_

_"I understand…I don't like it but I can see why you did what you did..."_

_"You…you do?" he asked surprised._

_She nodded seriously. "But promise me that won't happen again. That all that's behind you."_

_He nodded. "It is. I still had Raines in my head. But I don't now. I'm trying to be a good person and I don't want to hurt anyone…except for the Centre of course."_

_"Good. Because I can't be with someone who hurts people."_

_"I promise…I would **never** let anyone hurt you. I would never harm you…and I don't want to hurt anyone."_

_Allie studied him seriously. "I've heard about this before…what they did to you…brainwashing, sims…I heard POW's in the army sometimes were subjected to that. Grown men…strong men, who were brainwashed and made into something else…killers. They couldn't help it…and you…you were just a kid."_

_He stared at her. She believed him? She knew he wouldn't hurt her? Allie wasn't going to hold any of this against him?_

_To prove her feelings, Allie hugged him. _

_His eyes stung. "You…you don't hate me?"_

_She drew back and told him seriously. "I can't help but love you..." she looked him over. "The fact that you were honest with me about this…god…Kyle…no one would do that."_

_He frowned, suddenly worried what she meant by that._

_She smiled softly, tears in her eyes. "No, Kyle, that is a **very** good thing." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before hugging him again. He had almost cried, he was so grateful and relieved._

- End of Flashback -

"Allie?" Kyle asked.

"I'm fine."

He sat next to her. "No you're not."

"I just…" She sighed. "He's the only professor at that school that teaches glassworks. I thought…" she smiled bitterly. "That I could be good at that."

"You are. That asshole-"

"Has 30 years of experience…all year he thought I wasn't good enough. Maybe he was right."

"No he's not right. Why would you think that? He was doing this to try to trade sex for a good grade. I should break his neck!"

"You don't understand!" She finally looked at him, her eyes watery. "My teachers always said I was okay but that it would never take me very far. And the fact that I couldn't do any of this without…" Tears fell onto her cheeks. "It was stupid. I don't know why I bothered."

"No, Allie, you're good…you're a great artist. That son of a bitch was trying to manipulate you…using you to get something he wanted. He didn't care about you or how good your work is…I swear I'll take care of him. He'll be begging you to teach that class when I'm through with him."

"No…you can't."

"Why not?!" He asked outraged. "He tried-"

"I don't want you hurting him! You promised!"

"But he deserves it!"

"You promised."

He tightened his jaw and scowled. "Fine, but if he ever does anything to hurt you again I'll have to break that promise."

"He won't because I'm not going back to that class."

He watched her seriously. It didn't surprise him. Allie didn't want to look at the professor or have any contact with him whatsoever. He made her feel like a cheap whore. Kyle stared at the wall angrily. He didn't know what to do with himself but he felt like he had to do something. "Fine." He didn't blame her for not wanting to go back but he felt helpless.

Allie scooted closer, leaned over and hugged him, resting her head against his chest. Kyle wrapped his arms around her and sighed. The longer he held her, the more the anger seemed to melt away.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing...Pretender is Fox, TNT's and NBC's.

Just to clarify...this is AU and I'm pretending Ethan and the clone plotlines, along with many other things from season 3 and the movies don't exist. Don't like? Don't read.

* * *

Allie woke up and sighed miserably, memories from the previous day hitting her. She felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it. Thinking back on her decision, not to take what had happened up with the school authorities, she felt she made the right choice. It was the beginning of March and from what she had heard, it would take months to sort out. She didn't want that. She just wanted to forget. 

Besides, the harassment seemed to effectively destroy any passion she had for the subject.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Allie wasn't surprised Kyle wasn't next to her. He usually got up an hour, sometimes even two, before she did. Unless he had a nightmare. In that case, which was growing more and more infrequent, he could wake up at any time.

Something felt off but for a moment Allie couldn't figure out what it was. Then it hit her. **She** was off. For once she actually felt rested.

She checked the clock. It read 12:14pm.

Allie gasped and threw the blankets off her and ran from the room. She nearly ran straight into Kyle. He jumped back, just in time, preventing the mug of hot chocolate he was holding to spill.

He smiled. "Hi." He handed her the mug. "Just how you like it."

She took it confused. "What…?" She wore her red cotton pj bottoms and matching long sleeved top that had a few buttons coming down from the neck.

He kissed her cheek.

"You're not at work…and neither am I."

"I called in sick…for both of us. You were exhausted and I figured we could just relax…I got those movies you mentioned. We have time now to watch them all."

"Movies?" She asked half out of it. "What movies? When did I say this?"

"You remember…when we went to that Vietnamese restaurant…I used your card and rented those movies…Finding Forrester, Field of Dreams, Dead Poets Society, Life is Beautiful, Shawshank Redemption, and Fried Green Tomatoes."

She stared at him. "You remembered all those?"

He shrugged.

"Kyle…that was two months ago."

"So?"

"It's just…" she blinked then threw her arms around him, kissing him and spilling some of the hot chocolate.

When she drew from the kiss, she was smiling happily.

Kyle blinked. "Not that I mind…but what was that about?"

She shook her head and gave him back the mug of hot chocolate. "I need to get changed. I'll be out soon." She kissed him again then turned around and hurried back into the bedroom, shutting the door.

When she appeared in the living room she was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and one of Kyle's sweat shirts. It was grey. She also had on her bunny rabbit slippers. "Did you eat lunch yet?" Allie asked, going into the kitchen.

"No."

"I'll make us some sandwiches. Get comfy I'll bring the food to you."

He put his feet up on the coffee table and waited.

When the food was ready, Allie brought it over to Kyle. He had their drinks ready. They started the first movie and ate their lunch, keeping the thick comforter over their laps.

When it came time for dinner, they ordered Chinese, which was Allie's favourite. It was about an hour later that they heard glass shatter from the bedroom.

Kyle jumped up, causing Allie to fall back onto the cushions. He hurried into the bedroom, expecting an intruder. But to his relief, it was only a broken window. He went over and inspected.

"Kyle?"

"Its okay!"

Allie entered the room and frowned. "What happened?"

He bent down and picked up the glass, studied it for a second before dropping it. He then stood up and inspected the window. "The glass…it's cheap. Look. One paned glass…stupid idea for a building here…and it's not weather resistant. I'm surprised it lasted this long."

"You mean it broke just because it's cold?"

"Cold outside, warm inside…the same thing happens if you take a cold glass and add hot water to it." He went to her hall closet and retrieved the broom and dust pan. He cleaned up the mess then took a cardboard box from the closet, tore it up and taped it over the window.

They then went back to watching their movies.

* * *

A couple hours later the tv flicked off and barely a second later, so did the lights. 

"Ah come on!" Kyle whined. "Just when we were going to see how he escaped…"

"I have a lot of candles…" Allie got up and bumped into the coffee table.

"You okay?" Kyle asked, barely able to see her with the power off.

"Yep." She slowly made her way into the kitchen and found the flashlight. She went about finding all of her candles and placing them around the apartment, lighting them.

Kyle watched her. "We should check the building's circuit breaker."

"The landlord will do that. It's not a big deal." Allie placed a big candle on the coffee table and took the last two small candles with her down the hall. She lit one and put it on the vanity in the bathroom, then went into the bedroom. She hurried out. "Okay! We're not sleeping in there tonight."

"Why not?"

"Uh…the cardboard fell down…guess the wind was strong. The room's freezing."

"What?" he asked annoyed. "This sucks. Now I have to sleep on the floor and I can't know the end to the movie."

She smiled at him.

"What?"

She shook her head and went over to the hall closet. "I have a…this went on my old bed. Thought I could use it but I never do…" She pulled a large square foam out and brought it over to the middle of the living room. She laid it down, then took the comforter from the couch and laid it on top. "That should be alright…we'll just grab the sleeping bag and open it up for the top blanket…the one in the bedroom is much too cold."

Kyle looked around and went up to the radiator and put his hand on it. He groaned again. "Heat's out."

"Oh…right…it's connected to the electricity." She took the sleeping bag out and unzipped it then laid it over the makeshift bed on the floor, folding part of it down. "We'll just stay under the blanket."

"But it's barely past eight."

She shrugged. "We'll talk then." She climbed in. "Hey this isn't bad."

Kyle crawled in next to her and pulled the blankets over himself. "What are we going to talk about?"

"The meaning of life." She giggled at his reaction. She teased him a little about how much he hated when things didn't go his way. Then she couldn't help but snuggle up to him, for protection against he cold.

Kyle rubbed her arms trying to keep her warm, rubbing his own arms every so often.

Allie stared at him, her heart suddenly racing. She leaned over and kissed him. She refused for it to come to an end. All they had been doing was having a lazy day in; yet, it was one of the happiest days of her life. The other top contender was how he surprised her on Valentine's Day.

- Flashback -

_Allie changed into a red sleeveless dress and left her regular clothes in the locker. She put on some makeup then her jacket and waited for Kyle to pick her up. She didn't wait long. _

_He came by in the car he rented and took her to a restaurant. That part had been planned. But he had surprised her with a medium sized stuffed polar bear, some red roses and chocolates. _

_"Oh my god…Kyle…" She put a hand to her chest, grinning. "This is…so sweet."_

_"I wasn't sure…you were surprisingly unhelpful for what you wanted…so I checked the bookstore and got some ideas…came up with a few of my own too."_

_She hugged him and gave in a few kisses happily. _

_When they got back to the apartment, Allie found flowers on every surface in the apartment, scattered about. But there was a difference between the roses she held in her hand and these ones. The ones scattered were made of paper. They were colourful origami flowers. Kyle had learned to make them from the book Allie got him for Christmas._

_She was so moved that she cried. __It wasn't all for her benefit. Kyle liked that he had someone to do things for, and he wanted to show her how much he loved her. Nothing ever seemed like it was enough._

- End of Flashback –

Kyle drew back and took a deep breath. "I have to…" Allie said she wanted to wait for a long time until she felt ready enough to go further. He had been relieved to find out that she, like him, had never had sex. But it made sense. Allie was ruled by her emotions and she needed to be in love for that. Which is why it was frustrating. Of course he would never tell her that and he did respect her for her choice. On some level he was relieved because then he knew that he would be the only one for her. Somehow it mattered to him.

Allie stroked his cheek. "Kyle…" She whispered. "I don't want to stop."

He blinked. "What? Really?"

She kissed him and let her hands do all the talking. His eyes widened and he wondered if this was really happening. If they would finally be together.

Allie sat up and pulled the sweat shirt off, revealing her naked body to him.

Kyle's heart raced and he could barely breathe. He found himself acting without any thought except how he needed her in every possible way. His lips captured hers. His his hands roamed over her exposed skin and he fell on top of her, his body demanding to be with her.

* * *

Note - Reviews welcome. I need more feedback! BUT if it's negative, please only do _constructive_ criticism. Also, I'm open to suggestions of what you want to see or have done in the story.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

* * *

Kyle woke up first which wasn't anything unusual. But it wasn't too long before Allie woke up later. He slept through the entire night, and what was more, he felt great. He felt calm and peaceful, and satisfied. 

He remembered the night before and it brought a grin to his face.

Allie slept in his arms, burying her face in his chest. Kyle was himself emotional last night and did his best to hide the fact that he cried when they finished making love. He was sure Allie hadn't notice, for which he was grateful. The last thing he wanted was for her to think him any less of a man for crying.

But for as emotional he was, Allie was even more so. She too had cried and she kept asking him to stay and hold her. It was as though she were afraid he'd leave her. Like that would ever happen.

He remembered everything about the night before. The way he studied Allie's naked form for a minute before making love to her, the way her skin felt against his, and the way she felt while he pleased her…how she bent to his will and moaned his name. It was the happiest moment of his life.

When Allie woke up, she was alone.

"Kyle?" She asked, holding the blanket against her chest. When she didn't hear a response she sat up and asked panicked. "Kyle?!"

"I'm here." He called, from the kitchen. He put down spatula and walked over to her. He knelt at her side, smiling. "Hi."

"Hi." She hugged him. "I thought you left."

"Never." He sighed against her. He could still faintly smell her perfume. Allie kissed him softly before smiling. "You're cooking?"

"Trying. I think I've got the hang of it now but I burnt the first couple batches."

"Pancakes?" The smell wafted through the air.

"Yeah. They're almost done."

She kissed him softly again. "I'll be there in a minute."

He nodded and left her there, returning to the kitchen. Shortly after she appeared in the kitchen wearing his black Led Zeppelin t-shirt he had worn the night before. It came down to just above her knees and she didn't wear anything else.

"You're wearing my shirt. Why?" He asked curiously, dishing out the food.

She tucked hair behind her ear. "It smells like you."

He put the pan back on the stove, on a cool burner. "I smell?"

"In a good way."

* * *

Breakfast was very good and once they finished, Allie took the plates over to the sink to wash. 

"I'll do it."

"But you cooked. I want to help."

"You don't need to do anything." He put a plug in the sink and squirted some soap into it and started filling it up with water.

Allie studied him seriously. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" he turned to her and kept his eyes focussed just to the right of her.

"You're not looking at me." She said hurt. "Did I do something? Did…last night…was I not…I wasn't good was I?" This was all new to her, she was self-conscious and the idea of her being horrible for him hurt.

"What?" He looked directly at her. "You…are you serious?"

"You keep…not looking at me."

He went up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He sighed. "I'm trying to…I keep remembering last night…"

"And you want to forget?"

"What? No! Never…trust me…" He smiled. "I couldn't forget if I wanted to." His smile disappeared. "I just…seeing you here…you're _so_ beautiful…" He sighed. "I don't want to push my luck."

Her face softened and she smiled. "You mean…?"

"Last night was the happiest night of my life…being with you…" he took a deep breath. "I never knew I could feel so great…or so happy…and now…" he looked her over, the pull in his gut stronger than ever. The previous night had only increased the powerful sexual attraction they had for each other. "I can't help but want you again." He looked away, embarrassed.

Allie smiled. "You're being so sweet...**that** makes me want you again."

"It does?" He asked surprised.

She nodded and went over to her purse. She took a condom from it then came back over to him. She took Kyle's hand and led him back into the living room and laid down on the foam mattress. Kyle eagerly joined her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Neither heard when the phone rang, which it did a few times, their bosses calling to tell them they were late for work.

* * *

A few weeks later… 

"I dunno, it might be a week."

Allie stared at him then nodded. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. She filled a glass with water.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked following her.

"Nothing."

"Something's wrong…what is it?"

"This is your third trip."

"I know." He blinked, not getting the hint.

"Why do you have to keep leaving?"

"For my brother. I have to find him."

She huffed and turned around. "Of course you do."

"Hey, you knew I'd be leaving to look for him so don't lay this on me! If this was a problem you should have told me!"

She left her glass on the counter and turned back around to him. "I can't believe you." She stormed out of the kitchen.

"What?!" He went after her and grabbed her arm, making her spin around to look at him. "What's your problem? I'm coming back!"

"How do I know that? You're always talking about finding your family so after you find Jarod it'll be your mom and your dad, then your sister you'll look for…"

"You want me to forget about them?!"

"No!" She tore her arm away from him. "But where does that leave me?!" Her eyes watered. "It leaves me here…in this awful city working my crappy jobs waiting for you…and if you're ever caught I won't know…am I just supposed to wait until I see your picture on tv next to a caption reading 'unidentified male found shot to death'?" She hurried to her bedroom and fell onto the bed and began to cry.

Kyle stood quietly in his spot, a little confused. Then he walked into the bedroom. "Allie…" He sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

She pulled away from him. "I try to pretend like you're going on a business trip but I can't…" she sniffled. "I want you to find your family but I thought…" She let her sentence die.

"What?"

"Nothing." She drew in a deep breath and wiped her eyes, sitting up. "I'm an emotional basket case when you leave." She smiled sadly. "Sorry."

He studied her. "You…you were going to say something else…" he sighed. "Allie you are my family...my new family…" He pulled her into a hug. "Come with me."

"To Savannah?"

"Everywhere." He drew back and cupped her face. "You hate it here…so why don't we just go? We can go wherever you want and stop by any leads we get on my family." The more he talked the more excited he got. He smiled. "I can bring you to Yellowstone." She always wanted to go there, just to see what it was like.

"I'm pressuring you. I don't want-"

"No. I was just worried what you would think…not having a home but travelling across the country...you said yourself you're the nesting kind."

"Uh…now it sounds like I'm a bird…" She nodded. "But traveling is fine with me…we just can't do it forever…but for a little while…" She smiled. "Okay."

He smiled and kissed her and pulled her into a hug and sighed. Sometimes he really didn't understand why she would get upset but whatever their problems were, they had talked them out every time. He was grateful for that.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

* * *

Allie posed in the mirror and smiled brightly. She had never done anything so impulsive in her life, but she was beginning to enjoy it. Damn the consequences she was having fun. Just a few days before she and Kyle had packed up a few boxes of everything she didn't want to get rid of, and hoped to come back to one day and put them in storage. She said goodbye to the few friends she had in town, then she emptied her bank account. She had close to $1500 in there that she had been trying to save up for a car. 

They got here two days ago, following Jarod's trail but it was a dead end. He had left over a week ago. Kyle was upset but no more than any of the previous times he had missed his brother. They had decided to spend a few days just enjoying Savannah and sight seeing.

"That looks great on you."

Allie studied herself. "It's only $45?" The dress looked at least twice that.

"It is now…40 percent off."

She turned to the sales lady. "I'll take it." She closed the curtain and changed back into the jeans and sweater she wore into the store. Then she picked up her other shopping bags and the dress and made her way to the cash register.

She met up with Kyle in the food court in the mall. "Hi cutie." She kissed him happily.

He grinned. "Hello gorgeous." He slipped his arm around her. He was carrying a few bags though two were stuffed into the large bag so it appeared as though he just bought some clothes and not the other purchases he had. "What'd you buy?"

"Clothes…and…" She took a CD out of her bag. "Saw this and thought you might like it." It was a Pink Floyd CD.

"Oh…thank you." He smiled and kissed her gratefully. "I was thinking…why don't we go to that restaurant overlooking the river instead of eating here?"

"Okay…but I need to change."

* * *

They stopped by the hotel and got ready. It took Allie a lot longer, which was typical. Her hair was up and she had on a strapless blood red dress that went to mid thigh. It had glittery black beads in the middle of her breasts and a sheer black sash hung from it. Judging by the look on Kyle's face when she stepped into the room, the dress did it's job. He looked like he was going to die of shock. 

"What do you think?" She spun around. The dress flared out but didn't reveal anything beyond what she wanted.

He gulped. "Uh…" He smirked. "Do that again and I might have a coronary."

She smiled and went up to him. She adjusted his tie affectionately. "You look incredible."

He swallowed and smirked confidently at her. "I know." He took her arm and they left.

When they got back to the hotel room, Allie slipped off her high heels while Kyle hurried to the bed and took something from under it.

"It was so nice. I'm so glad we went for that walk. It was so romantic."

He hurried back over and took the flowers he bought for her. "That's what I was going for."

Allie went into the room and put her purse down on the dresser. "What's this?" She asked curiously, seeing a black Fuji digital camera sitting on the bed with a little bow on it. Her interest was peaked. It wasn't a small camera. It was large and expensive; in fact, it was ideal for professional photographers.

"A camera."

She raised her eyebrows at him and asked hopefully. "Is it for me?"

"Yeah. I know how you like to take pictures…"

She smiled and picked it up. "Kyle…this is…you're spoiling me."

"So? Does that mean you don't want it?"

She blinked. "Well I would say it was too much and that I can't accept it…but I really want it." She beamed at him. "You're so thoughtful." She kissed him. "Thank you." She kissed him again.

He watched her nervously and gulped, trying to keep a calm head. "You should…check it. They said the batteries sometimes were already put in it…but I never checked."

"Free batteries too?" She snickered. "I'm in heaven." She opened up the bottom and looked inside. "No batteries but there's…something." She put her hand on the opening and turned the camera over. Once she felt whatever it was fall into her hand, she lifted up the camera.

She froze.

In her palm was a diamond ring. It was white gold, with a round diamond, with two small round sapphires, one on either side of it. The diamond wasn't huge nor was it small, and it was the style she liked. It was beautiful.

Allie looked at Kyle in shock. _Is this really happening?_

He drew in a deep breath. "I want us…I mean…do you want to marry me?"

Her eyes started to water. After a few seconds, and the fear in Kyle's eyes brought on by what he thought would be a rejection, she snapped out of it. "Yes." She whispered.

"I didn't…" he couldn't make out what she said.

She nodded. "Yes." She threw her arms around him and felt a couple tears fall onto her cheeks. Allie giggled, not able to contain how happy she was. She drew from him slightly and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you more than you could know." He kissed her and took her ring. "Can I?"

She nodded and held out her hand. He grinned once he slid it onto her finger and pulled her against him more then spun her around excitedly. But it was Allie who shrieked giddily, "We're getting married!"

* * *

A few days stay in Savannah turned into a week. They got married there, in the middle of the week, which was the only reason the minister was available. Allie found a beautiful dress off the rack in one of the wedding dress shops and the few other arrangements they needed they took care of quickly. It was small and intimate, just between the two of them, but Kyle made sure it was special. He even had fireworks set off just before they headed to the hotel room for their first night as husband and wife. 

After that, they went on a three week long honeymoon in Rome. It gave them plenty of time to see all the wineries, museums, architectural structures, stores, restaurants, beaches, and other attracts they could even think of. Plus they still had a lot of time together in the hotel room. To say they were happy would be an understatement.

* * *

August… 

Allie stretched in the bed and yawned. An arm pulled her closer. She smiled and turned to him. Kyle smiled back. "Sleepy today?"

"Hmm?"

"It's eleven…you haven't slept this late in months."

"It is?"

"You were tired?"

"I guess…" she gave him a little push. "Why didn't you wake me?"

He played with her left hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. His wedding band was almost identical to hers. Plain white gold. His however was a little thicker. "You looked so comfortable. Besides, you're easier to take pictures of when you're asleep…you don't fight me."

"Excuse me?"

He laughed. "Nothing lude…no naked pictures."

"Good because if we ever lose the camera…well let's just say you're the only one I want to see me naked."

He chuckled and kissed her again. "Deal…speaking of which…"

She shoved him playfully. "What happened to 'we should be on the road by seven'?"

"I dunno. This seems more important right now" He smirked. "What do you say?"

"You sound like you're making a business deal."

"Aren't I?"

She shoved him. "Pig!"

He laughed and started oinking like a pig. Allie put a hand over his mouth laughing. "No! That sounds awful!"

He grabbed her and flipped her onto her back, chuckling. She giggled and shrieked as he started tickling her.

"Kyle!" she shrieked, laughing and gasping for breath. "It tickles! Stop!"

He stopped and smiled while she took a deep breath.

Allie lifted her hand and let a couple fingers stroke his cheek, then she ran then through his hair and down, across his lower lip. She kissed him and sighed against his lips, giving into the lust that always went hand in hand with how much she loved him. She curled her body around his while one of his hands ran over her thigh and the other cupped her cheek, his kisses becoming more desperate.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: If I owned the Pretender I'd probably be rich. Unfortunately I don't so there's no point in suing me.

* * *

Kyle smirked at his wife. "I think I'm rubbing off on you."

She put the bottle down and wiped her mouth to make sure none of the grape juice was on her face. "Hmm?"

"That's your fourth bottle today."

"Oh…right." She smiled. "Well if I get up to 8 then I'd say you've influenced me…this is purely because I'm sick of the other juices they have in gas stations."

He shook his head and took a bite of his burger than started talking with his mouth full. "Ift luks like abuther fitteen minuts." He was talking about how long it would take to get to the town once they got back on the road.

Allie nodded and ate some of her salad. "It'll be a motel right?"

He nodded and swallowed his food. "Small town, there's probably only a few places to choose from."

She stopped eating her salad and pushed it aside. "Ughh."

"What?"

"It smells like fish. I bet they didn't rinse the bowls after making pasta…it has fish oil in that."

He pushed his fries towards her. Allie took a few and ate them. "Chicken Divan."

"Huh?"

"I just thought of something we can have when we get to a bigger city…or a supermarket that carries it…chicken divan. It's sooo good. I haven't had that in so long...oh I can't wait to stay in an apartment to use a stove and have real food."

He smiled. "Okay. Whatever it is, we'll get it."

"You would like it." She ate some more fries.

Kyle studied her for a second. "How should I tell Jarod about you?"

She looked at him puzzled. "You could just say 'this total babe is my wife'"

He smiled. "No I mean…" His smile faded. "I know what he thinks about me…he thinks I'm just some vengeful…messed up…" He sighed and rubbed his face. "He's going to expect me to go with him and help him…do what he does…"

Allie put her hand on his arm. "There's nothing wrong with not wanting that. You want a normal life. That's okay. It doesn't make you a bad person."

"Just selfish." He said miserably.

"No…not selfish. Everyone wants a life of their own…a few here and there do things like volunteer but most people only rarely help the unfortunate. It's just how things are. When it comes to sacrifices and generosity most people are that way with loved ones…family and friends. People can be good without having to be selfless for strangers." She smiled. "You're selfless for me…and for your family."

His guilt seemed to wash away. He smiled gratefully, took her hand and kissed it.

* * *

- Flashback -

_Allie sat at the piano and slowly played the beginning to 'The Dance of the Sugar Plum Ferries'. She made a mistake and started over. She did so three times, getting caught on the same part. _

"_Is this what you call working?"_

_She turned around. Kyle stood with his arms crossed, smiling softly at her._

_Allie smiled. "They let us play if no one's around. They think it might draw more customers…but with the way I'm playing…" She got up and scooted out from the bench. He went up to her and kissed her. _

"_Can I play?" He picked up an acoustic guitar and strummed lightly on the strings._

"_I have a customer."_

"_I'll stick around." He strummed a few more false notes on the instrument but watched Allie with the customer. _

_Allie talked for a few minutes with the old man and helped him pick out several piano books. After he paid she returned back to Kyle._

"_You're so good with people." He said seriously. _

_She smiled. "And you're good at everything else."_

"_No…I was a horrible psychiatrist and an even worse nurse. Everyone kept yelling at me."_

_She giggled, remembering the day he came back to the hotel room with a bruise on his arm because a patient took offence to his get-to-work attitude. He had no bedside manner._

_He blinked. "Laughing at me?"_

_She nodded, giggling some more and hugged him. "You're not a people person, so what? A lot of people aren't. I still love you." _

_He smiled. "What's people person mean?"_

"_Just someone who gets on well with others."_

"_Like you?"_

"_Sure."_

_He nodded. "I'm okay as an electrician. Though…there was this one woman…she kept wanting me to fix this window. It was weird."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I dunno. She said there was this jammed window in her bedroom and she wanted me to fix it. She got really mad at me when I said it wasn't my job…I was just trying to hurry to the end of my shift so I could come visit you."_

_Allie smiled and kissed him, then explained. "That was her not-so subtle way of coming on to you."_

"_Coming on to me? What's-"_

"_Hitting on you...flirting."_

"_Flirting?"_

_She cleared her throat. "You know…being extra 'nice' hoping to do what we did this morning before you left for work…after we had breakfast…"_

_His eyes widened. "Oh!" He blinked. "You mean…but she didn't even know my name. She kept getting it wrong."_

"_Yeah well she would have used you and gone about her day as though nothing happened. It's how that works."_

"_Well I wouldn't have done anything even if I knew what she was talking about. We're married."_

_Allie smiled and kissed him, gratefully. Loyalty was one of his best qualities. _

"_I'll take this." Kyle took the guitar off from over his shoulder. "And some books."_

_She smiled and wiggled her finger, motioning him to follow her. She walked past all the electric guitars which surrounded him, and around the corner. There were about two dozen acoustic guitars hanging up on the walls next to a dozen electric guitars._

"_Whoa."_

"_Personally I think these are prettier."_

_Kyle abandoned the guitar he was holding, leaning it up against the wall. Allie took it and returned it to its stand before coming back and helping him to pick out a guitar he liked._

_He motioned to the tiny guitars, smiling. "Are those for children?"_

"_Yeppers." She smiled at him. "Aren't they adorable?" He nodded in agreement. She added. "This morning a girl and her father came in for her first guitar. She couldn't have been older than three. So cute."_

_Kyle's smile remained on his face for a minute while he returned his gaze to the instruments. Finally he pointed to one. "That one."_

"_Fender Dreadnought. It's one of the better makes." She grabbed the step ladder and brought it over. She started up it._

"_Ya know…I would help you but I'm happy just watching you wiggle your butt up there."_

_She turned quickly and nearly lost her balance. Kyle quickly put up his hands and stopped her, holding her in place. When he was satisfied that she'd be okay he let go. "Thanks." Allie handed him the dark mahogany lacquered guitar and got off the ladder._

_Kyle plucked a few strings. "Yeah okay I'll get it."_

_Allie smiled. "Won't my boss be happy."_

"_What else do I need?"_

_She led him over to the bookshelves and scanned everything. She knew he didn't care about money so she got everything she knew he would probably love to learn to play. He would soak up all the information up like a sponge. _

_They brought everything over to the counter and Allie went back for some instructional videos, a beginner's workbook, and books on chords. Kyle flipped through some other books curiously._

_Allie also put a packet of guitar strings, picks, and cleaner on the counter._

"_That should be everything for me now-"_

"_Actually…wait here." She disappeared in the back and came out with a big case. "This is a traveller's case…to protect the guitar." She put the guitar strap on top of everything. "Okay let's start ringing this in."_

"_You're forgetting yourself."_

"_Huh?"_

"_You carry violins don't you?"_

_She blinked. "Kyle I'm not getting a violin."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Well…it's been over ten years since I've played. I'll have to relearn everything and it'll take me a lot longer than it does you to learn something like that."_

"_But you said you liked it."_

"_I did…but-"_

"_We'll get you some books and we can learn these things together." _

_She blinked. He was looking at her in that way of his, so sweetly. The look he only ever gave to her or to children. It was special in that no one else he would ever trust and therefore had no reason to be sweet or kind to them. "Okay."_

"_Well go get it." He smiled. "I'll start ringing these through."_

_She smiled and hurried to the back room. She came back a second later with a red lacquered violin and a traveller's case for it as well. Then she got the other supplies and books._

_Kyle smirked at her. "You WERE looking at them."_

_She shrugged. "Maaaaybe."_

- End of Flashback –

Allie studied Kyle as he drove the 1975 black mustang. Sunglasses always made him look sexy; but then, she always thought he was. "I find it amazing that you're never worried about speeding tickets."

"You always say that but do I ever get one?" He smirked, his thin sunglasses blocking out the sun while the air whipped his hair around. "Besides it's not like I'd pay for them."

"Suit yourself."

He slowed a little just to appease her.

"Thanks sweetie." She kissed his cheek to reward him.

Kyle smiled and slowed a lot more. Allie snickered and kissed him again and again. Then, just to tease him, she licked his earlobe.

The car swerved.

Kyle got control then looked at Allie in shock for a moment before smiling. "Are you crazy?"

She laughed. "Can I help it if I want you?"

"You want me huh?"

"Yep."

"Okay." He pulled over and parked the car, turning off the engine. He smirked at her, challenging her.

Allie smiled, knowing very well he didn't think she'd do anything about it. She hadn't planned on it, but the way he was smiling at her…

She unbuckled her seat belt and slid over then kissed him. She kept him distracted in a sensual kiss while she slipped off the thong from under her skirt. Then she straddled him.

He broke the kiss and gasped, eyes wide, watching her through his shades. "You don't have to…"

She smiled at him warmly. "I want to." She kissed him again. He quickly lifted up her skirt and grinned when he realized she was way ahead of him. Allie leaned forward against him and tossed her hair to one side. She breathed against his ear while Kyle got ready.

It was never something she would ever plan, but neither regretted it. In fact, as newlyweds, they often found themselves wanting each other a lot.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's...Allie being one of them. Fox, NBC, and/or TNT own The Pretender.

* * *

Jarod studied the newspaper clippings. _Glencho Pharmaceuticals Awards $3 Million to Harris Family. _The article went on to describe how the small farm on the outskirts of town was the only one affected by a secret toxic spill as a result to mishandled chemicals by the company.

He smiled, closed the notebook and dropped it onto the cot in the warehouse then started packing up some of his things.

* * *

Allie leaned over and kissed Kyle. "Be careful."

He gave a nod. "I will. I'll call you when I find out if Jarod's still in town." He waited for her to step back then drove off.

Allie turned around and entered the small park near the middle of town there in Natchitoches, LA. She found a nice spot and took out her violin and started playing. A few people walked by in the half hour that she played and seemed to enjoy her music.

When she played enough she put the violin away in its case and threw it over her shoulder along with the camera case. She had her small wallet in the front pocket of her camera case, and her cell phone clipped to her skirt.

Allie took the camera out from her case, put it around her neck and started walking, taking pictures of the beautiful quaint town as she went.

* * *

Kyle adjusted his baseball cap and ran from the motel. It was the last of all the hotels or motels he checked. He got in the car and drove to city hall. He didn't want to waste time so he just snuck in through the back door and found his way to the real estate records.

He scanned the files and found 17 abandoned or condemned buildings that hadn't yet been fixed up or bought. He printed the list off the computer and hurried out of there.

He started with the building closest to where he was and one by one started crossing off places on his list; in an attempt to find where his brother was staying.

Kyle pulled into an alleyway and parked the car. He got out and shut the car door before taking his gun from the glove compartment, just in case. He quietly made his way inside.

He made it three feet inside when he was kicked from behind.

Kyle fell to the ground he made an attempt to get up but Jarod shoved him hard onto the floor, pinning him there, putting a gun to the back of his head. "Who are you? Do you work for the Centre?"

"If I did I'd ask you to kill me."

Jarod looked at the back of his head confused. "Who are you?!"

"Jarod it's me."

He hesitated before drawing back his gun slightly. He turned the man over and stared at him. Jarod's eyes widened in shock. "Kyle?" He backed off, got to his feet and just stared for a second. "I…the…"

Kyle stood up, smiling and dusted himself off. "Nice to see you too."

"But the hospital…you were shot. I was there."

Kyle sighed and put his gun away. "I overheard Lyle talk about it. He knew you were trying to help that boy get a heart transplant…he paid off one of the doctors in the ER to declare me dead then brought in a heart from the black market."

"But…you…they had you all this time?" The look on his face was like a child watching their puppy get hit by a car.

"Not exactly…I escaped after a few months from a facility in New York."

"I never checked your pulse…you didn't look like you were breathing and I was so upset…I…I should have…I should know better."

"Not your fault." Kyle went into the warehouse curiously. "You've been staying here?"

Jarod blinked the shock away and smiled, following his brother inside. "Yeah. I was just getting ready to leave. How did you find me? Was the Centre-"

"I've been keeping track of the news reports about children being hurt and cross referencing them to lawsuits, along with a general cross reference of the crimes in the papers and stories involving innocent parties. Of all the ones for this month, this one stuck out as something you'd probably do."

Jarod smiled. "That's brilliant."

He smirked. "It runs in the family."

"I can't…" Jarod grinned at him. "You're really here…god…you've got to stop doing that."

Kyle became serious all of a sudden. "We should go."

Jarod nodded and rounded up the rest of his things.

"I have a car." Kyle said and led him to the car. "You'll need to put them into the trunk or we won't have room for all of us."

"What do you mean?"

Kyle popped the trunk. "We don't want my wife to get cranky."

Jarod froze. "What?"

Kyle opened the trunk. "I got married."

"What, seriously?" He paused and asked seriously, "You're not pretending?"

"No. Allie and I have been married for a few months now." He smiled. "You'll like her." He put Jarod's DSA case into the trunk next to his guitar.

"You're married…" Jarod smiled. "Congratulations." He clapped his brother on the back. "Man, you're full of surprises…what's she like?"

"She's…" Kyle gained a far off dreamy expression while he talked about Allie. "The most beautiful woman...smart and understanding... she's so kind and sweet…and she makes me laugh. I don't know how I got so lucky."

"You love her." Jarod smiled approvingly.

"Of course. I knew when I met her I wanted to marry her…after a few months I just got sick of waiting and asked her." He shut the trunk and pulled out his cell phone. He hit speed dial 1.

* * *

Allie knelt and took a picture of the street in front of her. The sun was just starting to set and it cast beautiful orange, pink, and purple streaks across the sky. The old fashioned buildings were very much in the style of old Louisiana and it would make for a gorgeous photograph. Especially with the little boy playing with his dog only about ten feet away. He was at the forefront of the picture.

She took two from different angles before moving on. One thing was sure, of the three, nearly four months that she was married Allie had amassed quite a collection of photos from all the cities and towns they had visited. Kyle put them all to disk for her that they kept in a box in the car.

Allie put her camera away before stopping into a convenience store and grabbed another bottle of grape juice and stepped out onto the street. She sipped her juice, strolling along, taking in the sites of the beautiful town.

She bumped into someone coming out of the Green & Petrelli Legal offices. "Sorry." She said and moved on.

The man in the dark suit followed her with his eyes. For a moment he didn't believe it. He recognized her from her photo. He held up a hand to one of the men behind him and motioned for him to follow quietly. Then he started walking slowly after Allie.

She stopped and took a swig of her juice.

"Are you lost?"

She turned around to face the blue eyed, dark haired man. "I'm sorry?" She closed the lid on her juice.

"Well, I was just thinking there's no reason for someone like you to be wandering about. I would think it might worry your husband."

"Do I know you?" she asked confused, knowing very well that she didn't.

He looked down at the bottle and smiled. "It wasn't shrimp."

"Uh…I have to go." She said, thinking the man was crazy. She turned and started walking away.

He followed. "You ate bad shrimp but Kyle's batch was good?"

She froze and spun around. "What?"

"Montgomery, Mississippi…last week…you haven't figured it out? Getting sick from the…shrimp…all those bottles of grape juice…think about it." He smirked.

Her eyes fell to his hand. It was missing a thumb. She looked at him panicked. "Lyle." She turned to run. Lyle grabbed her arm and spun her back to him. Allie swung her grape juice bottle and smashed him over the head with it.

He stumbled back, releasing her. She ran as fast as she could around the corner.

She was down the street when the car sped after her. Allie looked around frantically and ran through one of the buildings. The indoor market.

She thought she made it when a sweeper grabbed her and shoved her, making sure she wouldn't get away. She fell against the bricks, keeping an arm out to break her fall. She smacked her side, scraping her arm against the bricks as she tumbled to the ground.

She still tried to get away. Her cell phone started ringing. Allie grabbed it hoping Kyle could get there in time to help her. The sweeper snatched the phone and threw it onto the ground. It smashed, breaking apart into several pieces. He tried to grab her but she jumped back. He backhanded her across the face before grabbing her.

Allie screamed. "Let go! Don't touch me!"

"Hey buddy what the hell are you-" One of the customers asked, hurrying over to help her.

The sweeper took his gun out and aimed it at the man. "FBI! This is a fugitive."

"He's lying! Help!" Allie struggled.

The customers backed off, not wanting to tango with a man and a gun. The fact that he may or may not have been FBI wasn't much of a factor.

Allie screamed again and stomped on the sweeper's foot. He groaned, grabbed her arm and started dragging her to one of the exits. She took a step towards him then gave a swift kick between the legs. He yelped and fell to his knees. He aimed the gun at her but refrained from shooting.

When she realized he wasn't going to kill her, Allie grabbed the silver serving tray, displaying a fine tea set, from behind her. It was on display at the kitchenware store, which was next to a flowershop. The cups and tea pot fell onto the floor. She smacked it over the sweeper's head. He slumped to the ground.

She looked around frantically then grabbed his gun and looked for a safe exit. Just as she stepped through the exit, the other sweepers caught up to the one that was now unconscious on the ground.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Don't own...not making any profit. Just doing this for fun and to practice writing techniques which I may never use.

* * *

"Something's wrong." Kyle said, hanging up his phone. "The line went dead." 

Jarod watched him seriously. "Could her battery have died?"

"No. She always keeps it plugged in when she's not using it. Something's wrong." He fidgeted. "It's getting dark…anyone can hurt her."

"Where did you drop her off?"

Kyle started the engine. "The park." He zoomed out of the alleyway and sped through the town. They quickly started with the park and after looking around for a good ten minutes they figured out which direction she went in. They stopped a few blocks down and asked a cashier at the diner if they saw her. "She has long dark brown hair and bright green eyes. Beautiful…and she's short like you."

The cashier frowned. "I wouldn't say I'm short-"

"Have you seen her?" Jarod asked. "It's important."

"Was she wearing a white blouse and a dark green floral skirt?" The teenage busboy asked, eavesdropping.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, you saw her?"

"Yeah. She was hot…I saw her go across the street. That way." He pointed to the left.

Kyle hurried out the store. Jarod thanked the kid then left.

* * *

Several blocks later, Jarod recognized a street they were approaching. "Kyle…the legal firm I was working with…they're on this street." 

Kyle's eyes widened. "You don't think…" He didn't have to finish the sentence. They pulled up to the legal office and got out. Jarod was about to go inside when Kyle stopped him. "Jarod."

Kyle hurried a couple buildings over, to where the broken glass and grape juice was on the sidewalk. "Jarod she was here."

"How can you tell?"

"She's been having a lot of grape juice lately." He looked at him panicked. "They took her didn't they?"

"We don't know that. We don't even know they were here."

"They took her."

Jarod pointed to the legal office. "Let me find out if they were here. Maybe she just dropped the bottle and didn't want to get cut cleaning it up…" He knew that was unlikely but he went into the building to find out.

* * *

Kyle followed Jarod into the back room. "What is it? We should get to the bus station. That's where she'll go...if they...if they don't have her already." 

Jarod sighed. "I have the footage outside of the legal offices." He held up a tape. "You should see this."

"Give it." Kyle took it and watched the scene play out intently. A knot the size of Texas formed in his stomach and it was hard to breathe. When Lyle and one of the other sweepers disappeared around the corner, Kyle let out a breath and rewound it. "I can't make out what they're saying...this doesn't have sound."

"I can lip read."

"Okay so what-"

"Lyle mentioned a shrimp dinner you two had last week."

Kyle looked up at him surprised. "They know we're married? I thought…they've been tracking us?"

"That's not all…Kyle…" Jarod sat down and motioned to Kyle to sit down as well.

Kyle sat down worried. "What is it?"

"Is it true she got sick from the shrimp?"

"Yeah…"

"And you didn't?"

"So?"

"And Lyle mentioned something about the drinks she's been having…you said yourself it's been fairly recent."

"Drinks…she rarely has alcohol if that's what-"

"The grape juice...has she been moody or tired lately? Does her back hurt?"

"Just tired. She's sleeping more but I don't see…" His eyes widened, realizing what his brother was getting at.

"She could be pregnant."

"No…no she can't be…it's impossible."

"Why? What kind of protection were you using?"

"Condoms…the pills were making her sick and there's a small chance it could cause complications later when we want to have kids so we agreed she shouldn't be on them…she can't be...she...we..." He gulped uneasily and looked at his brother guiltily.

"What is it?"

"A few times…we got…distracted and forgot." Kyle stood up. "She IS pregnant…" He tried to breathe. "She was complaining about food smelling weird and she said the spaghetti a few days ago tasted bland…oh god… they know. They know she's pregnant and they might have her. They'll want my baby!"

Jarod stood up and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "From what I've seen, Allie's a fighter. She'll be alright. Besides, if the Centre wants her for your baby then they won't hurt her."

"If they…" Kyle balled his hands into fists. "I'll kill them."

Jarod didn't doubt that. His brother had a temper but if it were his child, Jarod didn't know if he could hold back. He might just do the same thing. "We should hurry to the bus station."


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you okay?" A middle aged black woman asked her.

Allie tore her eyes away from her arm. "Hmm? Oh…yeah just…I'm fine." She faked a smile then returned to dabbing the bloody scrapes all over her arm.

"You don't look fine. You should go to the hospital."

"I can't…I can handle this."

"Did your boyfriend do that?"

She looked at the woman seriously, coming up with an idea. "Yeah…I was leaving him. He doesn't like to be told 'no'."

"You should go to the cops."

"I would but I can't…see he's FBI…he'll likely have a phoney charge made up or something so I'll be the one getting arrested."

"That's how it works doesn't it? Ya know I've heard of that happening before."

She smiled softly. "Me too."

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?"

"Actually…could you help me here? I can't reach the back."

"Sure." The woman started to dab the back of Allie's arm. "Good god…you might have scars."

"They're not deep. I don't think I'll have more than one or two minor scars…thank you."

She smiled. "I'm Rona."

"Allie."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Leave town." She didn't want to but Kyle had been clear that if this particular situation should occur, then she was to get out of town and get to safety. Normally she wouldn't listen but the pregnancy kit she bought at the same pharmacy where she got the first aide kit, proved that she was in fact pregnant. That and the fact that the Centre seemed to want her was too much. She wasn't going to let anyone hurt her baby.

"Where to?"

"Houston…my bus leaves in any minute. Where are you going?"

"Knoxville. My bus was delayed so I have to wait another hour." She dropped the alcohol swabs into the trash then opened up the gauze and began wrapping her arm.

"Can you do me a huge favour?"

"Sure. I'll help if I can."

"My ex-husband might come looking for me. Could you give him a message?"

"Of course, but how will I know who he is?" She finished wrapping her arm and taped the gauze shut.

Allie turned to her and took out her wallet. She took a picture of her and Kyle out. "Do you have a pen?"

She nodded and took one out, handing it to her.

Allie then wrote on the back. She handed Rona the picture and the pen. "Please…he has to get this."

Rona nodded. "I'll give it to him. Don't you worry."

Allie smiled gratefully despite the bruise on her cheek and the split lip. She had no idea when the injuries to her face happened but knew it was somewhere in the big scuffle with the sweeper. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just get on that bus and don't even think about seeing that jerk again."

"That's all?" She smiled and hugged the woman. "Thank you Rona." Allie then grabbed her violin and camera then hurried off. She jumped on the bus and waited anxiously until the bus pulled out of the lot. Then she waited for them to pass the city limits.

* * *

Rona paced by the gate for the bus to Houston and let out a breath when the bus started driving off. She started over to her own gate and waited. She really hoped the young woman would be alright. Her and the child she was carrying. 

It was only a couple minutes later that the sweepers, led by Lyle, came into the station in a rush. They went up the ticket window, where an old man was working. They butted the line and flashed some FBI badges. "We're looking for a woman in her twenties. Dark hair, green eyes…have you seen her? She would have the earliest bus, probably here in the last ten minutes."

"Lots of women fit that description…but she might not have come to the window. We just got an automated machine."

Lyle turned around, annoyed, seeing the new machine and glared at it for a second before turning back around. "What are the buses leaving right now? Have any left in the last fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah. The bus to Houston just left. The next one is to-"

Lyle ignored him and hurried towards the exit, taking out his cell phone.

* * *

Jarod and Kyle got out of the car. Kyle started towards the bus station but his brother grabbed his arm. "Wait." He motioned to the lone black car out front. "They're here." 

Kyle took out his gun.

"No!" Jarod hissed.

"They have my wife!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down." Jarod sighed. "Look, you can't go in there shooting because innocent people can get hurt."

"Then what the hell are we going to do? Allie's in there and if they-"

"There's only one car. They had two black cars out front of the legal offices. I think this one is meant for us…you go inside, I'll take care of these guys."

Kyle didn't wait for another word. He hurried into the building.

Jarod crouched down and ran up to the Centre car, keeping out of sight. He took out his pocket knife then jammed it into the back right tire. He pulled it out then did the same thing to the other back tire. He knew that no matter what happened now, that in the very least this was a big nuisance to the sweepers.

He put his pocket knife away then snuck around to the side of the car, coming up behind the sweeper who was just standing by the car, waiting. Jarod stood up quickly, slipping his arm around the sweeper's neck and put him in a sleeper hold.

The sweeper gasped but couldn't do much else. He passed out. Jarod eased him to the ground.

He went around to the other side of the car and tried to sneak up on the driver, but he had glanced in the side mirror in time to see Jarod. He swung open the door and got out.

Jarod grabbed him and slammed him against the door. The sweeper hit his head, knocking him out.

The pretender looked around and was relieved that everyone was too busy with their own lives that they didn't see the scuffle.

* * *

Kyle pushed open the door to the women's washroom. "Allie?!" 

"Not quite the pretender I was hoping, but you'll do."

Kyle turned around and came face to face with Lyle. A gun was aimed at his chest. "Where is she?" He asked hoarsely, his eyes burning into the thumbless man.

"Probably with Brigitte on her way back home." He had called her and told her to hop on the Centre chopper and get to Houston. Lyle sent the other car to follow the bus just in case Allie got off first. "The Centre will be very interested to know she's going to have a baby."

"You son of a bitch!" Kyle reached for his gun.

Lyle tisked, "try to keep up. I have the gun…I'll shoot you first."

"Not this time." Kyle glanced slightly to the left of Lyle.

Jarod snuck up behind Lyle and the sweeper next to him. He shooved Lyle to the side then threw a punch in the sweeper's face. Kyle tackled Lyle and punched him a few times while his brother subdued the sweeper. He hit Lyle in the face for a fourth time then when he was about to punch him for a fifth time when Jarod grabbed his arm. "Kyle! We don't have time for that."

Kyle reluctantly got to his feet and followed Jarod to check out the bus schedule.

Rona approached them wearily. "Excuse me? You're Kyle…"

Kyle turned around and looked at the woman suspiciously. She wasn't dressed like a sweeper.

"I spoke to your wife."

He flinched. "My wife?"

"Sorry, 'ex-wife'." Rona took the picture from her purse and handed it to him. "She told me to give you this."

Kyle's mouth dropped open slightly. It was a picture of the two of them in Rome. Kyle was wearing an olive green t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Allie wore a pastel pink feminine dress. She was on a stone bench and he had his arm around her and Allie held his other hand. They were sitting in a garden, with red and white flowers in the background. They were smiling happily, genuinely, and warmly.

Jarod asked the woman. "What did she say?"

"Allie said her boyfriend hit her and he worked for the FBI…that's why I didn't say anything to them when they came in here. She said to give this to him though…she wrote something on the back."

Kyle flipped the picture over and read the back. It was written in her neat writing, tightly together to make sure it would all fit on the back:

_Kyle, _

_I'm sorry about this but I had to leave. I couldn't risk staying. I just found out…we're going to have a baby. I took one of those home tests just a few minutes ago. I wanted to tell you in person but I just had to tell you. Our timing isn't the greatest but i'm already picturing what he or she will look like._

_I'm taking the bus to Houston and I'll wait for you at the station there. Don't worry about me. Everything's going to be fine. I'll see you soon. _

_I love you, always,_

_Allie._

"She's in Houston." Kyle let out a breath.

"I hope the poor girl's alright. She was pretty shaken up and her arm will hurt for days most likely."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she had a bruise on her cheek, a split lip, and lot of scrapes all over her arm. That bastard boyfriend must have been a scary muther."

Jarod scrunched up his face in confusion. "Muther? Why-"

"Jarod!" Kyle yelled as he ran for the door.

He glanced at Kyle then Rona. "Thank you." He hurried after his brother.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimers: Usual. I own no character, plot, or general idea used in The Pretender.

* * *

Allie fell asleep holding her violin and camera under her arms. She had checked them and they were untouched by the scuffle with the sweeper. It was just too bad she couldn't say the same thing about herself because her injuries stung pretty badly. 

When she opened her eyes it was pitch dark out. Allie blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She leaned across the aisle on the bus and asked the old woman sitting there for the time.

She looked at her watch. "10:03".

"Thanks." Allie sighed and mentally scolded herself for drinking so much earlier. It would be another twenty minutes, if they followed the schedule the driver had gone over with them earlier, before they would reach the stop in Huntsville, Tx.

She shut her eyes and tried to remind herself that she was on the bus in order to meet up with Kyle. She wanted to pretend that the events earlier in the day didn't happen. Unfortunately, she couldn't. Acting was not something she was good at and deceiving herself was even more difficult.

* * *

Jarod made a slight adjustment on the steering controls of the small plane they stole. It was their best chance to get to Allie before the Centre. "Don't worry. We'll get to her." 

Kyle stared angrily out the window, imagining all the things he would do to Lyle or Brigitte, or any other Centre employee he came across, if Allie was hurt in anyway. His anger was barely under the surface. He would do whatever in his power to make the Centre pay.

Jarod glanced every so often at his brother. He was worried for him. It's not like Kyle didn't already have enough reasons to be angry but now someone he had loved deeply may be captured by the Centre. Not to mention the possibility of his own child growing up in that place. If it made Jarod sick, he couldn't imagine how Kyle felt.

He decided to try to distract Kyle and help him focus on something more positive. "How did you and Allie meet?"

Kyle blinked.

- Flashback -

_"…and Allie." The bar owner introduced him to the waitresses._

_Allie turned and smiled politely. _

_That look…it was the end of him._

- End of Flashback –

He told Jarod of the day they met as if he was reading from a page from a book, aloud. His brother listened intently, glancing every so often back to the instruments in front of him.

"She was your first kiss?" Jarod asked curiously when Kyle finished the short account of the first day he and Allie met.

"Yeah."

Jarod smiled at him approvingly. "I'm glad you found someone to make you happy."

"Can't we go any faster?"

"We're at maximum speed."

Kyle sighed and rubbed his face, glaring out the window. "Allie's many things but she isn't like us…if they get her, you know what will happen." He turned to his brother seriously.

"We'll find her in time."

"Not if she's taken to another facility…you don't know that. They'll keep her until she has the baby, then kill her and do to my baby what they did to me…us." His eyes stung. "All she's ever wanted was a family. A big one so the kids all have friends." He looked away. "It's what _we_ want….she's never hurt anyone….she's just…sweet…and understanding."

- Flashback -

_"What's this for?" Kyle asked, picking up the rectangular holder of eye shadow. It had 6 small squares in it, all different shades of browns. He looked into the black plastic container and took out three more similar eye shadow containers. One was shades of green and blues, and the other was pinks and purples._

_He flipped open the lid and put his finger into one to feel what it was like._

_"It's makeup. Eye shadow."_

_"Eye…shadow? I don't get it."_

_"Here I'll show you." Allie took the little brush and smeared some dark brown eye shadow on it then put it on her eye lid. "There."_

_He blinked. "Why did you do that?"_

_"That's what it's for."_

_"I don't get it."_

_"It's to enhance your features…that's what makeup is."_

_"Can I-" He took the brush from her, not waiting for an answer. He smeared it across the brown._

_Allie stopped him. "It's a woman's thing. Men don't wear it…usually."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Sometimes actors put on concealer to cover their blemishes…" She put away her eye shadow and took out the rest of her things. "Lipstick…" she put some on then went through everything, demonstrating it all to him. "See?"_

_He blinked. "Oh." He smiled. "Yeah…it looks good. But…uh…I guess from far away you can notice your eyes better, but it doesn't look like you, not as much. I think you look better without it."_

_She smiled and kissed his cheek. _

_He blinked again, confused as to why that earned him a kiss, but he wasn't complaining. _

_Allie started washing the makeup off. Kyle handed her a towel and she dried her face. She hung up the towel. "Thanks." She smiled and giggled._

_"What?" _

_She motioned to her own cheek then his. "Take a look."_

_He looked in the mirror and smiled. Lip marks remained on his cheek. Kyle tried to wipe it off with his hand. Allie stopped him and rubbed it for him, removing the lipstick._

- End of Flashback –

"If anyone comes in the way of me finding Allie and my baby, I'll kill them." Kyle said darkly.

Jarod looked at him and sighed heavily. He wondered if Kyle would really do that. Sometimes the depth of Kyle's anger scared him.

* * *

The bus pulled into the station in Huntsville, Tx. Allie grabbed her things and hurried down the aisle. "How long are we staying for?" 

"Ten minutes."

She nodded and got off the bus. Allie hung her violin and camera over her shoulder and started towards the building. A few other busses were loading and unloading. She was just about to go inside when something caught her eye.

It was a black car pulling up next to one of the buses.

She froze and a chill ran up her back. Allie didn't seem to be able to move. She just kept thinking, _Oh god, they'll get my baby…they'll hurt my baby…_The fact that she just found out about the pregnancy didn't matter. She was just as protective as a mother in her ninth month would be.

A couple sweepers stepped out of the car. One of them spotted her.

Allie gasped, turned, and ran into the building. It wasn't very busy inside though. She looked around and found the other exit. She hurried to it and slipped out. Once she was outside again, she noticed a heavy set man putting some luggage into the trunk of his car. He was preoccupied with making it fit, ignoring his jacket slung over the back of the bench right in front of the car.

Allie grabbed the jacket and ran off, pulling it on over top of the camera and violin case. It was still big. She was relieved because she was thinking of ditching what little possessions she had with her just to blend in. She didn't pull her hair out from the jacket. It wasn't her major concern.

She tried to remain calm as she walked at a regular pace, down to the nearest street lights.

With each step, she was convinced the sweepers would realize that the woman in the big jean jacket, with seemingly short hair was the same one as the woman with bandages on her arm and carried a camera and violin with her.

Nausea began to overwhelm her from the run and she knew she wouldn't be able to fend that off for long.

She ducked into a diner/restaurant and made her way to the washroom. As soon as she made it, she got sick. It was a great end to the day.

Allie was afraid to leave the bathroom for fear the sweepers might check out every building nearby. So she waited, and waited. At one point, she heard the door open and a woman, she guessed it to be the waitress, ask, "Is anyone in here?"

Allie lifted up her legs in the stall and held her breath.

The waitress bent down and looked under the stalls and so no legs so she figured the washroom was empty.

The door creaked as it shut and a minute later, the lights went out. It was closing time. Allie left the bathroom and discovered that she was alone.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimers: I don't own The Pretender and I don't pretender to. I have no money so don't sue.

* * *

"The driver? Oh that would be Grady…over there." The security guard motioned to the driver. 

They made their way over to Grady.

Kyle held up the picture of Allie. While his brother held up a badge. "We're looking for this woman."

Grady blinked. "Her? What happened? What'd she do?"

"Nothing." Jarod said, putting his badge away. "She's a witness."

"Oh."

"Did you speak with her?"

"Yeah. Once."

"What'd she say?"

"We were at a stop, she just asked how long we'd be before she got off…it was odd. She sounded like she was coming back…and I waited a few extra minutes…to give the girl a break but she never showed."

Kyle's heart began to race. "What do you mean?"

"She got off and didn't get back on."

"Where was this?"

"Huntsville."

"Thank you." Jarod said before leaving.

* * *

She hated to do it but Allie had limited funds and she knew she would need it. She knew she still wasn't safe and that the Centre probably figured she was trying to find a way out of the city. It was a logical assumption. 

Allie dumped the duffle bag out into the locker then put her camera and violin inside. She had made herself a few sandwiches and taken a few drinks from the fridge. She put them inside the duffle bag, zipped it up and slid it over her shoulder. Then she slipped out the back door of the diner.

Staying in town, even to wait for Kyle to find her was too much of a risk. Besides, she didn't even really know if he was safe or if the Centre had him. Her heart told her that he was safe, but sometimes the heart lied. It was what she wanted, that's for sure.

She had to leave, she knew that. _We'll find each other soon._ She kept reminding herself of that.

Her credit cards for the accounts that Kyle set up would be tracked, she knew that for sure since they were under the same name she had used in Mississippi, but she only had $82 in her wallet. That meant the other $250 from her credit cards would be necessary. She went to an ATM and took all the money out.

She took her shopping list with her into the 24 hour hardware store and bought up 10 cans of black spray paint along with a screw driver, a few rolls of tape, gardening gloves, a gas mask, along with a newspaper from the stand outside. When that was done, she went to the car dealership.

The last few months on the road taught her that most used car lots were pretty much the same. At least, they all seemed to have the same system.

The first thing she did was figure out where the security cameras were, then she put on the mask and gloves, just in case she accidentally stepped into view of a camera, and to make sure she left no fingerprints.

She didn't know anything about wiring or cars so had to be a little more obvious about stealing the car.

Allie went up to the brown crown vic, which was only about six years old, and fairly close to the entrance of the building. She took out her screwdriver and began taking off the licence plates, exchanging them with those of a car in the next row. She doubted the dealer would notice for at least a day or two.

When that was done, she went over to the entrance of the building and picked up a brick she found along the way, from a construction sight.

If she had any doubts about what desperation could make someone do, they were gone now.

Allie went over scenarios in her head, wondering if there was any other way. But there wasn't. Planes, trains, or buses…the Centre would find her just like they found her now, because they had a starting point.

She had no other choice.

Allie threw the brick through the glass door. As soon as it was airborne, in what felt like an excruciatingly long moment, she started after it. The glass shattered and she jumped through the door. Allie ran behind the counter and looked at all the keys hanging up.

She tried to ignore the alarm and took an anxious breath. _I'm dead, I'm dead, oh god…I'm going to prison…_

There were 6 keys for Crown Victorias. Allie grabbed them all and ran back out the building then over to the car. Two had alarms on them so she tried them first. Neither were for the car she picked out.

She tossed those keys aside then tried the others. It was key #4 that worked. She quickly opened the door, picked up her duffle bag that was lying next to the car, threw it in and hopped in the front.

She started the engine and drove off.

Seven blocks away, she pulled into a park, driving along the grass, until she was right under a tree and far enough away from the roads so she wouldn't be seen. Then she turned off the car. _I guess watching the occasional spy movie was more educational than I thought. _She drew a deep breath before getting out of the car.

Allie took out the newspaper and spread it over all windows, bumpers, licence plates, and mirrors, taping them. She also taped anything chrome on the car. When that was all set she started spray painting the car black.

The light from the moon was more than enough to help her see, and cover, every surface. It was a temporary fix, and it wouldn't look nearly as good as a real paint job for a car but that didn't matter. She had seen cars that looked much worse, and this wasn't going to be a long term car for her.

Once the painting was done, Allie removed the tape and newspaper then took off her mask and gloves. The Centre would be looking for a brown Crown Vic, not a black one. She got in and started out of town, just picking the first highway she came across.

* * *

Kyle opened up his computer and started hacking into the bank records for any sign of Allie's credit cards being used. Jarod flew the plane quietly, waiting for any news from Kyle. 

Huntsville wasn't that long of a plane ride from Houston.

Kyle's eyes widened. "I got it! She used her card. That means they don't have her right?" He looked at Jarod hopefully.

"Yeah." Jarod smiled. "Memorize the address. We'll go there first and see if she's in the area."

Despite their best efforts, all they found of Allie's trail was the police report about the car theft. They went to the crime scene to see if they can find any clues that might be left behind.

"Kyle." Jarod said loudly.

Kyle was knelt on the ground, at the site of the stolen car. He was trying to see if he could figure out where his wife was hoping to go. _Probably anywhere, just as long as she's out of the city and away from the Centre. _It didn't really help.

He stood up and looked at his brother. "Is she-" Jarod grabbed his arm. "The Centre."

Kyle turned and glared at them. "I'll take care of them." He reached for the gun which was in the small of his back.

"Don't! It won't help, we have to leave…NOW or we won't find Allie."

Kyle scowled but followed his brother as they ran from the lot, leaving several investigating officers, baffled as to why the FBI agents would just take off like that and why there were there in the first place.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't pretend to. Just having some mindless fun...

* * *

Allie covered up her bruises on her face with some makeup. She dabbed a little on at a time, trying to make it look as natural as possible.

Her hair was pulled up neatly in a bun and she wore a long sleeved black blouse and a plain burgundy skirt that came to her knees. She had bought a couple pairs of clothes just an hour before.

Allie tried not to think about Kyle because if she did, then she would just end up crying. She just knew that it was going to be weeks, maybe months before she saw him again. The last couple days had made that clear. She hoped she was wrong but it was hard to be optimistic because she couldn't do anything on her end. If she did it might endager her baby. She just had to wait.

In the meantime, she needed money, and quickly.

So, she did what any normal person did when they needed cash. She went looking for a job. That, and a place to stay.

Albuquerque, New Mexico. It wasn't exactly her first choice but it was a large enough city with plenty of people so she could blend in and get lost for awhile. It's what she needed.

She put the concealer away then left the McDonald's washroom and went to every place she circled in the morning's classifieds in the newspaper.

It never really occurred to her how much trouble getting a job would be without references and a social security number. She didn't have either and she didn't have the means to get them.

Allie was beginning to get discouraged when, instead of being encouraged to leave for suggesting she be paid under the table, she was hired. "I'm sorry?" She asked and blinked in disbelief. Of all places she'd been today she figured this would be the most resistant to her idea.

"Look…" Mrs. Rodriguez leaned forward, clasping her hands. "My concern is for this establishment and this establishment alone. Funding has been cut substantially this year and the mayor actually expects us to run this place and make a profit."

"But…this is a library."

"I know…which is why, if you ever get arrested, or into trouble again, then I don't know you. You officially do not work here. Unofficially…" She gave a sly smile and sat back in her chair. "ANY trouble from you and you're gone."

"I won't be any trouble. I promise."

Rodriguez studied her then nodded. "We expect employees to be here an hour before opening, and an hour after closing. So you should get here at 9am and leave at 7pm. Dress smart, like you are now, remain pleasant to the public and do your work and we won't have a problem…I'll pay you at the end of every week."

Allie smiled gratefully. "Thank you." She shook the woman's hand and let out a breath. Now she would have enough money to afford a place to stay.

* * *

3 weeks later… 

Kyle tied the storage key onto the chain with his other one. Jarod had convinced him to put everything that could slow them down, into storage. That included lugging his guitar or Allie's suitcase around.

He was now back to sleeping in warehouses. They were far from the type of warmth he wanted. But then, would any place feel as warm and safe as he did with Allie?

He sighed and took out the small perfume bottle he kept with him. He never realized how much he hated staying in warehouses before. Before Allie, he just figured that anything was better than the Centre.

Kyle took the lid of the perfume off and put it up to his nose. He drew in the scent. His eyes fluttered closed. "Allie." He whispered to himself.

- Flashback -

_"No!" Allie gasped._

_Kyle ignored her, swinging the putter as hard as he could. He hit the golf ball. It flew up, hit the rotating blades of the windmill, bounced back, and hit him square in the chest. He doubled over and groaned._

_Allie burst into a fit of giggles. _

_Kyle glared at her. "That wasn't funny."_

_She nodded and giggled some more, putting her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop. _

_Kyle's face softened as the pain subsided. He stood up straight and rubbed his chest. "Well how am I supposed to get it in?"_

_Allie got a control of herself and sighed, smiling brightly. "Geometry or so I'm told. I rarely get better than 4 or 5 putts per hole."_

_"Geometry?" He looked at the windmill again. "Well I can do that." He watched the blades of the windmill turn, counting how long of a gap there was before a blade passed over the hole. Then he crouched down and started measuring the angles of the green in front of the windmill. _

_"Come on, hurry up!" _

_Allie turned to the people behind them. "Relax. My husband is trying to play."_

_"Could he take any longer?"_

_"Skip this hole then."_

_A couple people left grumbling._

_Kyle came over, not caring at all that he pissed them off. "This should do it." He took a shot, this time a lot more gently. He wasn't about to try to get the ball **over** the windmill like the shot before. He took aim and hit the golf ball. It zig zagged and rolled up to the windmill. _

_The ball hit the blade and stopped. _

_"My turn." Allie tried for the same spot that Kyle had aimed for. She tapped the ball but it rolled slowly and stopped before it could hit any framing of the green. _

_Kyle took another shot and the ball rolled through the opening and out back of the windmill. Allie got in position and tried again. She took a shot but it didn't go as far as she'd like. She frowned. _

_Kyle found his ball and tapped it into the hole. "Got it!" He came back, smiling proudly. "Three. Not bad for my first time."_

_Allie made a shot, then another, and another. Finally the ball rolled through the little tunnel and out the other side. She muttered, annoyed, when she missed the shot again. "Stupid little…"_

_Kyle went over to her. "Here." He came up behind her and put his hands on her arms and showed her how to hold the club. "It thought you played before."_

_"I did."_

_"You suck at this."_

_"I know." She said frustrated._

_He smiled. "You have to keep the club straight…" His smile faded. "No you're turning it…keep it straight."_

_"Well I would but I have these things called boobs which are getting in the way."_

_He blinked. "Uh…" He didn't know what to say to that. He fidgeted._

_She smiled. "My aim…how do I know where to aim?"_

_He blinked again then began to explain to her the basics of geometry and angles. He helped her sink the ball. "Yes!" She exclaimed excitedly then spun around and hugged him. "Thank you!" _

_The scent of her feint perfume was like a drug._

_"You know...I'll knock off a point if you give me a kiss."_

_Allie smiled and kissed him softly and gave several more, each kiss lasting longer than the one before. She drew back slightly and he tried to kiss her again. She stopped him. "I win."_

_"Huh?"_

_"The kisses…that means my score's 2 now."_

_He smiled. "I said for 'one' kiss."_

_"That's not fair. You manipulated me."_

_He grinned. "Only a little." _

_She smiled and kissed him again, slipping her arms around his neck._

- End of Flashback -

Kyle's heart ached. He missed her so much he didn't think he could take it. He sprayed the perfume onto his pillow and put the bottle away.

He laid down and studied a picture of Allie. The floral aroma from the perfume wafted up just enough so he, and no one else, could smell it.

He couldn't sleep lately. His nightmares returned but this time they involved Allie and their baby. He lived through his worst fears, in his dreams.

Jarod had kicked him off the computer, earlier, and took over for him. He was more than a little concerned for his little brother. Kyle was on the computer, searching for any signs of his wife, not sleeping, and barely eating. His outbursts came and went. Sometimes they'd come seemingly out of the blue, only later he'd realize they coincided with things that reminded Kyle of Allie and things they did together.

Most people he could reach when they were dealing with problems, but it frustrated Jarod that his own brother didn't seem to care about what he said. Kyle couldn't see how upset he was about this. It was after all, his fault wasn't it?


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

* * *

Allie spit out the toothpaste then put the container back into her large purse, along with her to toothbrush. She took out the water bottle filled of Listerine, took a gulp and swished it around her mouth before spitting it into the sink. 

She was still getting used to morning sickness but she was glad that when she did get sick it would still the nausea for a few hours.

She reapplied her lipstick then went to her desk. It was the reference desk.

Allie sat down and went through the book she was reading, waiting for a customer. Sometimes they had twenty or thirty minutes without so much as one person coming to ask for assistance.

After ten minutes, Allie closed the book. She was finished. It was one of the books recommended by the doctor she saw two weeks ago. She had read two others so far. She took some money from her wallet and left with the book. Like the other books, she had certain pages marked. Ones that she knew would be important to refer back on. She went to a coloured, laser copier and had all the pages she marked copied. Then she put the book into the drop box and went back to her desk.

Two of the three books she read were about being pregnant. What to expect, and how her body was going to change. One of those focussed more on the physical limitations she would encounter. It even gave examples of good exercises women could do while pregnant and listed the types of exercises not to do.

The third book was about pre-natal and post-natal care.

After four weeks of working in the library, she had some money to work with. Allie found a small 300sqft apartment that ran at $300 a month. It wasn't great but it was good enough. After that, and after food and the few expenses she had, she approximately had $860 left over from that job alone.

A couple weeks before Allie had also gotten work at a seedy bar working the 8 to midnight shift. On Sundays, since she had that day off from the Library, she'd work at the bar from noon until 8. It was a restaurant during the day. It brought in good tips and since it wasn't the ideal environment, it was paid in cash. It so far brought in about $320 a week.

Her only concern was for the well-being of her baby, and if that meant working long hours for awhile, she didn't care.

There weren't many ways she could get money and next to anything illegal or stripping, this was as good as it got. So far she hadn't sunk to the idea of stripping and she hoped to god she wouldn't have to.

After her shift at the library, she put in her usual shift at the bar then went home and directly went to sleep.

It became a predictable routine over the next month.

* * *

Kyle held the floppy eared stuffed white rabbit in his hand. He studied it and wondered what possessed him to get it. Allie was nowhere to be seen and he didn't even know if he was having a boy or girl yet. Rabbit had floppy ears, arms and legs. The inside of his ears, the pads of his feet, and a bow-tie it wore were all white and purple checkers. 

He laid down on his cot and hugged the rabbit, staring off into space.

Jarod came into the room a few minutes later. He sighed. "Kyle."

He sat up. "Yeah?"

"What happened?"

Kyle shrugged.

Jarod sat at the end of the bed. "I want to know."

He sighed. "I went into the children's department in Target today…" he showed him the rabbit. "I got this." He sighed again and looked at his brother. "Do you know how expensive everything is? The price of a basinet is minimum $60 and that's on sale…how is she going to pay for everything? And if she has to run…how is she going to do that?"

"She'll find a way to pay for whatever she needs."

Kyle shook his head. "She's just…when it comes to computers, chemistry…acting…she's average. You act like you expect her to do what we do and she can't!" He jumped to his feet angrily. "The Centre's counting on that and for all we know they might actually have her!"

Jarod stood up. "Sydney doesn't think so."

"Sydney! How can you still…Jarod he's lying to you!"

"Kyle I know you're upset but-"

"Upset?! Jarod my wife has no means to provide for herself or our baby! She'll have to take on crap jobs that pay under the table and work long hours in order to save anything. The stress isn't good for her and she might lose…if she…" His voice died down. "What if she loses the baby?" His eyes stung, watching his brother fearfully. "I should be there."

"We'll find her. I promise."

* * *

Allie sat on the couch staring at the picture in her hand. Tears fell onto her cheeks. The couch itself was old like the other furniture provided when she got the apartment. It was uncomfortable and no matter her position a spring would always jab into her back. With the aches in her back from the pregnancy it only made it worse. 

There were a few shopping bags which sat at her feet but right now they didn't matter.

She held her first picture of her baby. All she wanted to do was talk about her baby. To brag about how beautiful it was. Allie kept getting the urge to tell Kyle. She'd turn around and realize he was gone. Remembering that it was just her and her child.

Her optimism was fading. It was beginning to feel like she'd never see Kyle again. She missed him so much, all the time, and most especially, when she needed to see his face. To see the smile that was just for her.

She even missed his bad habits.

- Flashback -

_Allie grabbed the potato chip bags and crumpled them up. "I've heard that geniuses are slobs but I thought you were different." _

_He smirked. "You're just noticing this?"_

_She tossed the bags out and noticed something on the table, barely hiding behind a soda can. She pulled out the ash tray and held up the lone cigarette. "What's this?"_

_"A cigarette."_

_"Really? I didn't know that." She watched him disapprovingly. "What are you doing with it?"_

_He frowned, not liking her tone. "Smoking it."_

_"Since when do you smoke?"_

_"Since I was 7."_

_"What?"_

_He took the cigarette back from her and pocketed it. "I invented the upgrades okay? They had to test 'em on someone."_

_"Really?" She asked quietly._

_"Yes really, now drop it!" He later told her that he hadn't had them past the testing stage until he was in prison but that didn't change her feelings on the subject._

_"Don't bark orders at me! I'm your wife not some damn servant!"_

_"Stop being so suspicious of me!"_

_"Suspicious? When have I ever-"_

_"Right now!"_

_She stomped the floor in frustration. "YOU don't get to be angry. You've been hiding this from me!"_

_"I knew you wouldn't approve."_

_"How did you keep this a secret? What else don't I know about you?"_

_"I would have a smoke once or twice a week. It's no big deal…I'd have it then brush my teeth. Usually before dinner so you couldn't taste anything but the food." He smiled at his own cleverness._

_"You have to quit smoking."_

_"I don't have to do anything." He said defiantly. "And I don't have to listen to you ordering me around. You don't own me so stop acting like it."_

_"I'm just trying-"_

_"Yeah well don't. I'm sick of pretending to care about what you think." He snapped._

_Allie flinched and her eyes stung. "Fine." She said quietly and hurried to the washroom, feeling like she was going to lose it in any second. She stopped in the doorway and turned around to him. "You want your freedom and to kill yourself with those things…and you don't want to listen to me. Well you can have it because I won't watch someone I love kill themselves…I hope losing me was worth it." She stepped into the washroom and slammed the door._

_"What?" Kyle asked in shock. "Allie?" He went up to the door and knocked. "Allie? What did you mean by that?" He tried the door knob but it was locked. Panic began to rise when she didn't respond. "Allie! Quit fooling around!"_

_"Go away!"_

_Kyle grabbed one of Allie's barrettes and pulled the metal clip part back and started picking the lock. He felt a momentary bit of triumph when the door opened. It dissipated when the door hit something. He tried to push it open again only to realize that a drawer was pulled out preventing the door from opening further._

_"Leave me alone." _

_"Let me in. We'll talk."_

_"No."_

_"I'm sorry. Allie I didn't mean any of that. I just hate being told to do anything…and this is…I know I don't smoke like other people but sometimes it does make me feel good. Please can we just talk about this?"_

_"No."_

_"I'll break this door down."_

_"Go away!" _

_"Fine, have it your way." Kyle took a step back from the door and kicked it hard. He did so a few times before charging at it. The door broke from the frame and destroyed the drawer in the process._

_He straightened himself and went up to Allie. She blinked away the shock then rolled on her side, still laying down in the tub. "I don't want to talk to you." Her voice was strained and he could tell she had been crying._

_"Then listen, I didn't mean any of it. I love listening to your voice, to your stories, to you even reading the label of dental hygiene products. I only said that because I knew it would hurt you…I don't why I wanted to do that."_

_She didn't respond. Kyle grumbled. "Christ just get out of there and talk to me!"_

_She remained silent._

_"You asked for it!" He turned the faucet halfway. Water sprayed through the showerhead, all over Allie._

_She shrieked then sat up. "Kyle!"_

_"Get out of there." He grabbed the towel off the rack, ready to give it to her._

_"No." She said stubbornly._

_"Get out of there or I'm coming in. I'll do whatever I need to get you to listen to me."_

_"I don't care." _

_He scowled and pulled his shoes and socks off._

_"You're bluffing." She said, looking up at him, not sure if he was or not. Every inch of her was soaked by now. Her hair loose around her shoulders stuck to her body. Her spaghetti strapped dress was like a second skin. _

_Kyle stepped into the tub, leaned down, grabbed her wrists and pulled her swiftly to her feet, making her gasp. "I love you and I won't let you get rid of me."_

_"You…you stepped into a shower for me…with your clothes on?"_

_"Yeah." He shrugged. "Now what-"_

_It wasn't a big deal to him, but to Allie it was like he was saying he didn't care about his possessions or the damn cigarette. To her it was like he was stepping into a shower of bullets, just to speak to her. _

_She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He fidgeted at first, not sure how they went from a screaming fit…their worst one, into this. They only had a few fights since they had known each other but he hated arguing with her._

_He broke the kiss. "No more cigarettes I promise."_

_She nodded and asked vulnerably. "We need to tell each other everything…how else will we trust each other? A marriage without trust-"_

_"Isn't a marriage at all…I know…Sorry...I love you." _

_"I love you too...and I would never let a stupid arguement break us up." She kissed him again. _

_Kyle ran his hand over her dress and it stopped on the nipples that were standing on end, through her soaked dress._

_She whispered, "Kyle..." She started to unbutton his jeans, watching him hungrily, wanting to forget they fought in the first place. He pressed her against the shower wall and kissed her passionately. _

- End of Flashback -

Allie sighed and wiped her eyes then put the sonogram picture down. That day was the day she conceived. There was no doubt in her mind about that. It warmed her heart to know that she and Kyle could make up and forgive each other the way they did; and now, their baby would always be a reminder that no matter what, she and Kyle would be okay. No fight could get in the way of how much they loved each other.

She grabbed one of the shopping bags and took the baby album out. It was untouched inside but she had gotten it half off because there was a tear on the pink cloth on the front and back covers. She took the cover off and opened the book. She filled out the first page.

Baby's name: She left it blank.

Mother's name: Allie Anne Lawson

Father's name: Kyle

She wanted to fill in the whole blank but was never more aware that she, nor Kyle, knew his last name.

She studied the page for a minute, running her fingers over Kyle's name. She flipped the page and in the spot marked 'Baby's first sonogram' Allie slipped the picture into it. She smiled and ran her fingers over the sonogram. It was of her 11 week old unborn baby. Nothing compared to the first moment she saw it on the screen at the doctor's office.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Don't own. Pretender belongs to NBC, TNT, and FOX. Please don't sue. I have no money.

* * *

It was late on a Saturday night and the neighbour's music was cranked up. The booming was distracting and it kept her up. Allie tried to use the time to organize some of her things, in hopes she won't obsess at how annoying the music was, or how much sleep she really needed.

She cut the tags off of her maternity clothes one by one and folded them up. She stacked all the clothes on the table in front of her next to the baby clothes for newborns she bought. They were three sleepers, in white, pastel yellow and pastel green, colours which could be used whether her baby was a boy or girl.

She cut the last tag, got up then started gathering all the trash she had just made.

There was a knock on the door. Allie stopped what she was doing and looked at it curiously. She wasn't expecting anyone, especially at this hour.

She went to the door and answered it. It was the landlord, a greasy looking man with glasses and a lot of stubble. "Hi."

"I just got a call from the IRS. They say that you owe them money." He spoke bluntly, making the point clear right off that he didn't care about his tenants, only the money. It wouldn't surprise anyone.

"What?"

"Normally I wouldn't care, but you did say you'd be staying for awhile…now is this going to be a problem? Should I ask you for next month's rent early?"

She blinked and shook her head. "I don't need to pay until the first of the month…which is in three weeks….and the IRS, why would they-" She cut herself off and blinked at him. "Uh…let's deal with this issue in the morning okay? I'm exhausted."

He shrugged. "If you are staying then I'll want the money in advance."

She nodded and shut the door behind him. Allie put a hand to her stomach. It was only beginning to change. She could see a different with her shirt off but no one else knew she was pregnant unless she told them. Not yet anyways. She knew that wasn't going to last long.

She drew in a couple deep breaths, trying to focus, then hurried about the apartment.

Allie stuffed all the maternity and baby clothes into her duffle bag, putting her violin and camera on top. She did the same with anything else she would need. It was a small apartment and it didn't take long to pack up all her possessions.

She drove the Crown Victoria to the college and ditched the car then walked the three blocks to the storage facility nearby. She opened up number 34. Inside was a blue Toyota Corolla about 4 years old. It had cost her $1200 but it wasn't going to show up on the Centre's radar. She had bought it a month before, having found an ad in the newspaper, sold by the owner itself, and no dealership.

Ideally, Allie figured she would work for another month at the bar before quitting, then a month after that she was going to quit the library. She had planned on finding a job in another city that was less draining for the remainder of her pregnancy. And that after that, well she had other means of providing for her baby. Mainly, she had hopped, to flip some small properties and get big enough payouts to help her out, financially, for awhile.

She got into the car and drove off, leaving the city without thinking twice about it. A couple hours later, Brigitte and the sweepers burst through the door, only to find no trace of 'Allie Roberts'.

* * *

Jarod clipped the badge to his waist and looked at Kyle uneasily. "Why don't you come? This will go quicker if there's two of us."

"No. I'm staying to look for my family." He grumbled. He hadn't shaved in a few days and his eyes were bloodshot. It really annoyed him that Jarod kept trying to 'help'. His brother was constantly trying to get Kyle to go somewhere with him to get his mind off of his family.

Kyle thought that was like saying he'd never see Allie again. Jarod could go and do his little pretends but _he_ would stay and search the net and hack into the Centre whenever he could, trying to find any information he could about Allie's whereabouts. Hours later Jarod returned to find his brother still in front of the computer, but he was relieved that Kyle actually tried to rest later.

In the middle of the night, Kyle thrashed in his sleep in the midst of a nightmare. He woke with a start.

Jarod glanced over at him but refrained from asking if his brother was alright.

Kyle sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sighed, rubbing his face. The sound of Allie's sobs in his nightmare stayed with him, chilling him to the bone. He sat there miserably, wondering what was going to happen to his wife and baby.

The computer beeped.

Jarod closed the window he was looking at and clicked on the small mailbox at the bottom of the screen. The email popped up.

"You got something?"

Jarod's mouth dropped open. "Yeah, look!"

Kyle hurried over and frowned at the picture. It was of two men standing out front of Osborne's flight school. "I don't get it. Is this where Allie is? Do they have her? Who sent you this?"

"Angelo…and I don't think this is about Allie…look at what he wrote." Jarod motioned to the note scribbled along the bottom of the picture. "I said that to Angelo once…" he looked up at Kyle. "When I was asking about our dad."

Kyle's eyes widened. "One of these men is dad?"

"Maybe." Jarod printed the picture out then brought up the internet browser and did a search for Osborne flight school. Then, one by one, they tried to match the logo of the school to one on the internet, trying to get an address.

* * *

Note - just a reminder, I will use some themes from the show but I plan on mixing things up. Nothing will happen exactly as it did in the show. Also, review please! Need more feedback. 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't pretend to.

* * *

"Do you know these men?" 

"Yeah...that's my dad..." The woman behind the counter said like it was obvious. "Why?"

"Which one?" Jarod asked to clarify.

She pointed at the lighter haired man.

"Who's the other man?"

"Dad's friend Charles."

Jarod and Kyle looked at each other quickly. "Where is he?"

"Last I heard he said something about Dayton, Ohio."

Jarod smiled. "Thank you." He put the picture away and started to leave.

"Jarod...she's lying." Kyle said, staring her down.

She looked uneasily at Kyle. Jarod turned around and studied her. He sighed and told her calmly. "Major Charles...he's our father. We've been looking for him."

"Your father?"

Kyle took out the flying cross that he had and showed it to her. It seemed to be enough proof. The woman nodded. "Come with me." She went through the flight school and into the back, to a small storage facility. "Dad told me about this before he died. He said there will be people looking for Major Charles...maybe even the FBI. He said that if any of his family showed up, give them this." She opened the safe that was hidden by several boxes and gave them a shoebox and a folder. She paused. "I don't mean to sound rude but I don't like whatever mysterious people are after you so could you keep it short here?"

Jarod nodded. "We understand."

Kyle opened the shoebox and found dozens of photographs. "Jarod look." He took one out. It was of their mom and dad together, a toddler at their feet which looked very similar to the kid in Jarod's DSA's. Margaret had a swollen belly. She must have been six months pregnant. "This must be us."

Jarod smiled excitedly and opened the folder. He drew in a sharp breath and took out one of the papers. "Our birth certificates."

"What?" Kyle dropped the photo and looked over Jarod's shoulder. "Jarod Williams born to Charles and Margaret Williams." The brothers smiled at each other. They finally knew who they were. They went through the folder, wanting to know whatever bits of information their father left for them.

* * *

Allie studied her reflection seriously. She adjusted the blond wig. _'It's not exactly a nice hairdo but it'll do.' _She opened up the contact holder and slipped in the brown contacts before putting on the thickly framed glasses. 

Her paranoia increased since Albuquerque. She needed money and needed it fast. This was probably the only way for her to get enough money to make sure she got all essentials for her and her baby for some time.

Unfortunately, it wasn't legal.

She hadn't wanted to break the law but she was starting to show and a few people guessed, that considering her stomach and how thin the rest of her was, that she was in fact, pregnant.

Originally her plan was to try to get loans legitimately, and restore a house and selling; essentially flipping it for profit. But she had miscalculated how time consuming, expensive, and physically demanding it all would be. A single, pregnant woman with no money wouldn't be able to gamble on a property in hopes of getting a profit.

She had talked to a real estate expert about it and discovered that usually, it took a few months to renovate, sometimes more, and possibly a couple months to sell the place. If she didn't make a huge profit she would be screwed.

So this was her fall back.

Back in Albuquerque, she had made a trip to the university and spoke to some students about fake ID's. The ID's themselves cost only $50 a piece. It was the hacker that had been expensive. For nearly $2000, almost everything she had, the computer science student, also known as the hacker, set up 4 credit histories for each of her identities.

She slipped the ID into her wallet and left the restroom in the train station. She had several ID's on her.

Allie headed for the bank across the street and took several deep breaths as she strode up to the door. She tried to go in looking like she was confident.

She went inside and up to the manager's desk. "Mr. Reynolds?"

"Yes young lady, what can I do ya for?"

She smiled and offered her hand. "Gabrielle Gilmore. I spoke with you on the phone?"

"Ahh yes." He stood up and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Miss. Gilmore."

"Likewise." She sat down.

"I hope you're having a lovely day."

Allie noticed a kid roll by the window on his roller blades. She saw a lot of that now that she was in San Francisco. She wondered if her own child would like rollerblading. "Yeah…I am." She smiled at Reynolds.

"Okay, let's get down to it…judging by your credit history, I'd say the biggest loan we would be comfortable signing off for you would be $15,000."

She nodded. "I can work with that."

"Good. I thought that much." He took out the forms all set for her. "Just sign here and here, then we'll take that deposit to open an account for you. Once that clears we'll deposit the loan…" He looked for another set of papers.

Allie wrote carefully the name, Gabrielle Gilmore, just as she practiced. The other set of papers were put in front of her and she signed them too.

She gave him the cash deposit of $200 to open the account, signed a couple more papers, they shook on it and she left.

She paid visits to three other banks, getting another $15,000 loan, and two $10,000 loans.

Allie took the time for the cheques to clear and to be processed, to sight see and to the doctor's again. It had been 3 weeks. She discovered she was having a boy. The sonogram picture was still a little hard to see anything specific but the doctor had shown her a three dimensional sonogram when she was there. She was shown the proof that her baby was a little boy. The picture of the sonogram she got to keep was of the two dimensional one. It was still wonderful. Allie felt like she was looking at a miracle every time she saw it.

By the middle of the next week, her bank accounts were full. She had asked for a $1200 daily credit, which was the maximum for someone with her bank records would be allowed.

The whole process of what she wanted to do was all about pushing money around. Taking money out of some accounts and putting them into others. She doubted that taking a thousand-plus dollars out of her account daily wouldn't send up a red flag. She was pretty sure it would.

The whole point of the money transfers was to confuse. It certainly confused Allie a few times. Keeping her aliases straight was difficult and she had to make a flowchart to understand everything. That meant, in her case, it was coloured. She always did like things neat and orderly.

It wasn't just signing cheques over. Every couple days Allie took $500 out of an account and she used the cash to get gift certificates. A _lot_ of gift certificates. After a couple weeks her aliases; Laura, Brianna, and Tiffany had empty bank accounts, while Gabrielle had paid off her loan and still had $27,000 in the bank account.

She closed the account and left the city, getting rid of her disguise and her aliases in the process. She hoped no one could link her with stealing all that money from the banks. It was a federal offence. Yet, at the same time, Allie was sure that if she did leave a trail behind, the Centre would cover it up like everything else. She counted on that.

* * *

Note - There, hope I didn't confuse anyone. But again, I always appreciate feedback as long as you're not mean about it.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Don't own The Pretender or its characters. Borrowing for sheer entertainment. No money is being made.

* * *

Kyle walked around permanently with a knot in his chest. Now he helped his brother sometimes with the pretends but mainly out of sheer boredom…or frustration. Whatever it was he didn't care. Kyle always put in several hours on the computer after he helped Jarod. It helped alleviate some of the guilt he felt for not focussing 24/7 on finding his wife.

Each day it just got worse and worse. Today was a particularly bad day.

He turned off the circular saw and took the protective glasses off. Kyle studied the 2x4 seriously. There was some small part of him that became excited knowing that he had made a perfect cut. He was good at this and took to it like a fish in water. He had even picked it up quicker than Jarod and that never happened. Unlike Jarod, who knew only what he saw and read of the construction business, Kyle had the instincts for it. He loved reading blueprints and everything else about this job.

For the first time in his life, he could picture him keeping this job; maybe even make a career out of it. But that was why he felt so horrible. Here he was thinking on this while his wife was out there somewhere, scared, and alone. It wasn't right. He walked over to one of the other workers and handed him the 2x4. The man took it and turned around, immediately beginning to nail it to the frame of the window.

Kyle went back to his post and grabbed another piece of wood that needed to be cut. He stopped, noticing the tall woman walk by. Naomi. She had short blond hair and she had small hips and a small chest. It wasn't usually the type of woman he was attracted to. She was the complete opposite of Allie. His wife was in his opinion, the most beautiful, and sexiest woman on the planet. But now…he was attracted to someone else.

Kyle couldn't help but watch her work. It was hot for this time of year, but then it was always warm in Louisiana. They were on the outskirts of New Orleans, renovating a building that Jarod apparently had been to before.

Naomi was well built and her skin glistened from the sweat.

Kyle stared at her for a minute.

- Flashback –

_Allie rocked above Kyle, watching him in awe. Her cheeks were a bright pink, her lips were full, and her eyes seemed a brighter shade of green. His hands ran over her breasts as their moans floated through the room. The intensity became stronger and their moans became louder and louder. _

_Kyle slipped his arms around her back and flipped them over, onto Allie's back. He shifted his weight and stared at her as he made love to her. _

- End of flashback –

Kyle's heart began to race. He and Allie were apart for 4 months now. 4 months without…well he was a man and men had needs. Allie would understand.

He blinked and shook the thought from his head before getting back to work. _'How could I have just thought that? I haven't changed at all. I'm still a horrible, screwed up person...why does Allie love me at all? I don't deserve her.'_

After cutting another piece of wood he brought it over to the worker then returned to his post. He put a new piece of wood under the saw but didn't turn it on. Naomi stood there. She smiled. "Hey."

Kyle didn't say anything.

Naomi came closer. "I need some help with the drywall."

"Why?"

"Between you and me…it's a little heavy."

"I'm busy." He put his goggles on and started the saw. He cut down the edges like he was supposed to then turned off the machine. He took his goggles off and studied the edges.

"You don't want to help?"

"No. Someone else can." He brought the wood over to the other worker before coming back. She was still there. "What?"

"I can't tell the other guys, they'll just bug me about not being as strong as everyone else."

He paused. "Because you're a woman?" He had learned a lot from Allie, and the fact that sexism was rampant even nowadays really bothered her. He hadn't understood its importance before her. Now he did. He felt sorry for Naomi. He nodded. "Okay."

Kyle followed her into one of the rooms of the half-built house. It was in the back and they passed the female electrician, Tiffany. She was shorter than Naomi almost by a foot, but she was well-respected and every bit the professional.

He helped Naomi lift and install a few sheets of drywall that could be argued were too big for one person to carry. "We should put up the sheetrock on the ceiling before doing the rest." Kyle said and wiped his sweaty forehead. It was so hot that his t-shirt clung to him and he felt as though he had been running for hours. Maybe it was the workout, the heat itself, or maybe it was the fact that his mind kept wandering back to that one physical need he craved but could not fulfill without his wife there.

A physical need that screamed at him every few minutes since the day he and Allie were separated.

Adrenaline pumped through him and it only blurred his focus more. So much so he started having…thoughts. Only this time, they weren't about Allie. They were about the reasonably attractive woman he was alone with. A woman who seemed to not hate him.

Still, he would not consciously break his marriage vows. If anything he was going to do right in his life, it was that.

Kyle went over to the pile of sheet rock. He frowned at the broken edge of one of the pieces and considered where he could use it, knowing he'd probably have to cut it down.

Naomi approached on his right and slipped an arm across his back.

Kyle looked at her surprised.

She smiled. "Thank you for helping me."

He blinked, his heart racing. Her hand slid slowly downwards. It wasn't his fault…his body just reacted. Kyle hated himself for it. He was having those thoughts again. Only, they were more vivid.

That's when he remembered what he and Allie talked about, women wanting 'help' when in fact they were just flirting. "I'm married."

"That's not a problem." Naomi leaned in to kiss him.

For a second he wanted it; but, he grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back slightly, just to stop her. "I said I'm married."

She smiled. "Come on…I saw you looking at me. Besides, Yuri saw you go into the motel the other day. I know you're not living at home anymore. You and your wife are separated." Naomi leaned forward again, determined to sway him.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, the heat, the inability to breathe, or maybe it was the fact that she had brought up the sore subject of he and his wife's separation. He pushed her away, letting go this time.

Naomi flew back a couple feet before losing her balance and falling hard onto the ground.

He hadn't thought he was so rough with her.

"Kyle!"

He spun around quickly only to see Jarod in the doorway. His brother looked at him horrified then ran over to Naomi and helped her up.

He couldn't breathe.

Kyle ran from the room, from the house, and from the construction site. He was missing for several hours.

It was around midnight and the stars shone brightly over the city. There were very few clouds in the sky. But right now, that didn't matter.

Kyle sat in a booth in the bar, staring at the shot glass in front of him. He turned it, his mind elsewhere.

Jarod stood in the entranceway in the bar and sighed, spotting his brother. He drew a deep breath and started over to him. The closer he got the more pathetic and miserable Kyle looked.

He slid into the booth across from his brother.

"Come to arrest me?" Kyle asked bitterly, his words slurring.

Jarod looked the table over, seeing one empty glass and five empty shot glasses, turned over. His eyes returned to study his brother's face. "You're drunk."

"Prolly." Kyle lifted the shot glass he was playing with. Jarod made a reach for it. "Maybe you-" Kyle downed it, flipped the glass over while swallowing, then he slammed the glass onto the table.

"Ssssssshe okay?" Kyle asked, his eyes trying to focus on one of the four Jarods that wavered in front of him.

"A few scrapes but she'll be fine…now do you want to tell me what happened?"

He shook his head. "I promised…and she…then when…"

Jarod furrowed his brows in confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying."

"That woman, she ask me to help…but she didn't want…she wanted…me…Tifffffany could have helped…she's…I forgot about her…I wasss ssstu-pid." He smiled bitterly and motioned to the bartender. "T-that guy says this…" he pointed to his wedding ring. "Is a _chick_ magnet."

"What's a chick magnet?" Jarod asked even more confused and suddenly understood why some bars had breath mints handy. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them and Jarod had to pay for the foul breath his brother had.

"Women…it's when they are attracted to men…me apparently." He looked around. "What happened to my drinks?" He frowned at Jarod. "Did you drink those?"

He sighed. "No Kyle, you did…and you're drunk. You don't need anymore."

"I'm not drunk…I'm getting a beer, do you want one?"

"No and you shouldn't get one either." His voice spoke more firmly as Kyle slid from the booth.

"I'll try the Canadian this time." He stood up and wobbled. He reached for what he thought was the table but started to fall over.

Jarod caught him in time.

"Whoa, what was that? Did something happen?"

Jarod pulled Kyle's arm around him and took some cash from his wallet and dropped it onto the table before dragging his brother out of the bar.

"Where are we going? The beer's in there." Kyle looked behind them confused.

"So what happened with Naomi? Why did you do that to her?"

"I told her I was marriage. Married. She still tried." He looked at Jarod, his breath heavy from several different kinds of shots. He shook his head, trying to convince his brother that what he said was true. "I didn't push her hard. I ssswear I didn't mean to."

Jarod sighed. "It's okay. Naomi's alright. Just apologize to her in the morning and it'll be fine."

Kyle snickered. "No it won't. It never is."

He studied him curiously. "What do you mean?"

Kyle looked around. "She would have liked it here."

"Who?"

"My wife…" he poked Jarod's arm. "We were going to come here after Natcho…Natitoch…Natchicci…Na-" He tried to get the name of the town right.

"Natchitoches?"

"Yeah…Allie wanted to come here."

"You miss her."

"She's so…" Kyle looked at his brother seriously. "Doesn't she have the best smile?"

"The pictures…she is pretty."

"No…no the pictures, they don't mean anything." Kyle stumbled but Jarod held on, supporting his weight. "Pictures are nothing. Allie's smile is so incredible. I'd go through everyt'ing at the Cener again if I could see her smile again." He frowned. "She doesn't smile in my dreams."

"You dream about her?"

"Every night." He stumbled again.

Jarod dragged him over to a bench and sat him down. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You don't care."

"What? Of course I do. How can you say that? You're my brother."

"So they say."

Jarod's mouth dropped open slightly. He knew he was drunk and prone to say anything but it seemed Kyle was revealing more about himself now than he tended to when he was awake. The pretender was curious. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a turtle."

"What?"

"You're a horse…that's how the same we are."

Jarod sighed. He didn't get the analogy but he understood what Kyle was talking about. Sort of. "Kyle, we have the same blood in our veins…the same blood type, and the same abilities."

Kyle shook his head. "I fuck things up."

Jarod sat next to his brother. "No you don't. You've had a lot of things you needed to work out."

"I fuck up, try to fix it but no one cares…except Allie." He sighed. "She makes me laugh and I forget I ever screwed up..." Suddenly it got real hard to breathe.

"Kyle, I know you miss her but it'll be alright. I promise we'll find her."

Kyle rubbed his face. "It won't! She'll meet someone else by the time we find her. Someone better! And…and…" He got to his feet and turned so he faced his brother. He swayed. "My baby…he'll raise my baby and I won't ever see him…or her. How is that okay?!"

"You're just imagining that. She's your wife. She won't forget that….she loves you."

"She might fall out of love with me." He said seriously, and in a way that made him seem almost sober.

Jarod sighed. "That's ridiculous."

Kyle turned and started walking. "It's going to happen."

Jarod hurried up, stopped his brother and turned him around to walk in the direction of their latest lair.

Kyle didn't say much of anything until they got near the building. He let out a simple. "I don't feel very-" He then stumbled to a trash can and threw up.

* * *

Note - Reviews please! Let me know how I'm doing. 


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: You think I'm profitting from this? Ha! You're wrong!

* * *

Allie closed her eyes and let the bow glide gently over the violin. She played a relaxing Mozart song which was a change of pace from the quick American pieces she was playing only moments before. The kicking in her stomach eased a little. It brought a smile to her face. Her little boy was falling asleep. She was sure of it. 

Once the song was finished Allie put the violin down and went over to the couch. Her apartment was small but decent. She made sure it came furnished as she knew it wasn't going to be a permanent resident. She was on the 4th floor of an old building in the heart of Chicago.

There were dozens of pieces of fabric spread all over the place. Allie went through the fabrics that she had bought earlier that day and began organizing them. The darker, Asian patterns went in one pile, and the lighter patterns of green, yellow, and blue went into another.

She studied the picture of the quilt in the book then put it down and began measuring and cutting the pieces. She vaguely remembered her mother showing her how to make a quilt when she was a kid but since it was a long time ago Allie was going to take things nice and slow. She didn't want to screw up her son's baby quilt.

This recent move was going to be the last one until her son was born. She was certain of it. This time she felt a little more secure against the Centre finding her. For one, Allie was going by the name Poppy Hastings and she doubted that anyone in the Centre had any way to connect her to that name or to the city of Chicago.

Her time was spent rather one-sided. All she did was prepare for the baby. She went to Lamaze classes and to exercise classes where all the women there were pregnant. Every time she went to Lamaze, she felt worse and worse about her situation. All the other women had their boyfriends, husbands, in one case, a wife, and in a couple other instances, just friends helping the woman pregnant. But not Allie. She always showed up alone and every time she did, everyone there just looked at her with pity.

The exercise classes had their own breed of cruelty. Allie got on well with some of the women and they had asked her to join them a few times at the Fruit Shack across the street after classes. But it only made it harder because she knew she wouldn't be staying in town. After a month, she just let herself get disconnected from them and she became an 'acquaintance' as opposed to being a friend.

Christmas was the worst. She was miserable and alone, left to her memories of the year before when she first met Kyle. To think so much would happen in a year almost seemed impossible to her.

Doctor's visits were both full of anxiety and excitement. She was always happy to hear that she and her baby were healthy and doing fine. But the sonograms made her impatient for her son's birth. She wanted to hold him in her arms and see what he looked like. Still, she liked knowing that he was safe and sound inside her belly.

* * *

- Flashback - 

_Kyle, about 9, was led down the dark hallway in the Centre. He heard a voice __that caught his attention. He stopped and turned, considering following the voice. "Keep moving." One of the sweepers informed him. Kyle obeyed but asked them curiously. "That sounded like a girl…are there other kids here?"_

"_No."_

"_But I thought-"_

"_That's enough talking." The other sweeper warned. _

_Kyle shut his mouth and was led back to his room. A small 9x11 room with only a __cot, a toilet/sink, and a desk. Nothing else. He wasn't allowed pictures or books. The only time he was allowed to look at either of those things was to prepare for a Sim. _

_Once inside his room, he spent the time as he always did, just laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. Daydreaming. He wondered what the sky looked like and how different it was from the pictures in those books. He tried to think back on his family but couldn't. The only thing he ever remembered before this place was one simple image. A stuff rabbit. _

_It was a strange thing for a kid to remember. That and nothing else. Why would an animal look like that one? It didn't look real. And if a rabbit had died and they stuffed it, why would anyone let a kid hold it? It could be filled with diseases. Unless whoever gave him the rabbit, his parents most likely, had wanted him to get sick._

_Considering what Raines told him, it would make sense._

_He remained perfectly quiet until he fell asleep, and he was probably the quietest boy of his age on the planet. He rarely spoke unless spoken to and he never disobeyed Raines. The man had hit him a couple times for asking too many questions and Kyle wasn't stupid. He didn't want to get hit again._

_But this time, his mind wandered to that voice he heard in the hall. It had sounded like a girl's voice. And if a girl was in the Centre that meant other kids might be too. Kids he might be able to meet and be friends with._

_The thought brought a smile to his face._

- End of Flashback –

Kyle put the stuffed, floppy eared rabbit back into his bag. He was holding onto it for his baby. Now that he remembered about his own stuffed rabbit, it wasn't a surprise he was compelled to get his own child one. But thinking back on his childhood was not something he liked to do. It was filled with almost too much pain for him to bear. That's partly why he focused on Allie. She brought him so much happiness that it helped him whenever he was upset. Like now.

He missed her so much.

Jarod came into the room and put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. By now he knew when his brother was thinking about his wife and family. "Try not to think of the past. Kyle we'll find her…maybe you should focus on everything you and your family will do when you're all together."

Kyle studied him seriously. "We won't be able to come with you. My baby needs a home."

"I know." Jarod paused. "I'll help you get settled before I leave…then I'll just have to visit as often as I can."

Kyle sighed. "You really think we'll find them?"

"Yes." Jarod said optimistically, though part of him feared they wouldn't. It was almost 6 months since Allie had disappeared. He wouldn't dare voice the thought that repeatedly told him that Kyle was going through what their father had gone through with their mom and sister. He was beginning to think that maybe Kyle would be separated from his family for years. The odds were against them.

* * *

Note - reviews, anyone? Am I talking to myself here :0) 


	19. Chapter 19

Note - Sorry for the long delay in posting. I've had a lot going on and hopefully I'll be able to post a little more regularly in the future.

* * *

Kyle drew in a sharp breath, flinching. _The boy fell to the ground, blood on his lip. His eyes became watery. Raines grabbed him and yanked him to his feet. "No crying!" Kyle trembled and tried to shrink away from the man. But he couldn't. Raines had a firm grip on his arm. "I said no crying!"_

_Raines punched Kyle in the stomach. The boy crumpled to the ground and tried to resist the urge to cry. _

Kyle turned onto his side, his dream brought old memories to the surface. He was for awhile, trapped, as if reliving his past.

_"Take it." Raines told Kyle._

_The boy went up to the chair next to the table and sat down. He looked at Raines uneasily. If he didn't take the drugs himself like Raines wanted, Kyle would be beaten unconscious like last time. _

_His hands trembled as he was told how much to take. Kyle filled the syringe and put the needle to his arm. He looked at Raines, terrified. He had studied the effects of drugs. Heroin overdoses, the addictions itself, and the withdrawal; not to mention, addict's behaviours. Was this a test? To see if Kyle was curious enough to try something that could very well kill him?_

_No. Seeing Raines' face, he knew. The man wanted Kyle to take the drug, whatever it was. That meant the pretender would have one more problem and one more thing that caused him pain. Raines wanted Kyle to take the drug and get addicted; and considering how scrawny the boy was, it could very well cause his death._

_It was obvious in the man's eyes._

_Kyle may have been a lot of things but he wasn't suicidal. He'd take a beating over death any day. He threw the syringe on the ground, smashing it…then he waited._

_Raines' eyes clouded with fury and he went up to Kyle. "What are you doing?!" He backhanded him across the face before following it up with another punch._

Kyle gasped, his eyes snapping open. His arms swung up to defend himself but he quickly realized he was alone.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, wishing the images away. It was one fight he had won with Raines but he paid the price and spent two weeks in the infirmary after that.

Once he got his bearings together Kyle got up and went into the other room. Jarod was on the computer which was no surprise.

Kyle sat down at the table and went through the box of family photos. "What do you remember of mom and dad?"

Jarod looked up and sat back in his chair. "Not much…you?"

"I think they gave me a toy once."

Jarod studied Kyle. "I remember playing in the backyard. It was big and there were a lot of old tress, and a tire hanging from one of the thick branches for some reason. I can sometimes see mom hanging laundry…she gave me a lunchbox once…and I remember the day I was taken. Mom picked me up from school."

"What about dad?"

"Just him teaching me how to make that paper swan."

"I don't remember anything." Kyle sighed miserably.

"You may have been too young."

Kyle dropped a picture and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know how to be a father."

"Yes you do…you love kids. That'll be enough."

"Will it? 'Cause I don't think it will. What if I screw my kid up and they become…like me…like I was."

"Kyle that won't happen….trust me. You can't go wrong if you love your kids."

For a minute, he believed Jarod. His brother seemed so sure of himself. But part of Kyle knew there were some things Jarod was naïve about, and this was one of them. There were plenty of ways for a parent to screw their kid up and considering Kyle's own role model, he was sure he was, unfortunately, going to be a horrible father.

* * *

Mr. Raines wheeled the oxygen tank into the room. "Leave us." He hissed at the two computer techs. They got up and scurried out. 

"What's with the dramatics?" Lyle smirked.

"Kyle's…_wife_…where are we on her?"

"We're monitoring the national birth records, databases, and hospitals. Once the baby's born we'll know which city she's in."

"She won't use her name."

"She'll do something to try to get a hold of Kyle and Jarod. And once she does, we'll be ready…I figure there's about a month either way that we'll need to monitor. I have several men ready to monitor the databases."

"Good…I don't want any mistakes this time…I want that baby."

* * *

Kyle sat at the table with a couple stacks of books next to him. 

"I thought you already read up on birthing techniques."

"Hmm?" He looked up. "Oh…no this is…" He showed his brother the cover. "When I find my family I want to be prepared."

The book was on neo-natal care. Others in the pile were child psychology books. Kyle knew taking care of a child was one of the most confusing and difficult things in the world; at least it seemed like it would be considering how confusing reading the books were to him. Reading only helped in a very small way, but he figured it was better than not reading them at all.

"That's a good idea." Jarod tried to reassure Kyle. He firmly believed everything would turn out. Really, he didn't want to imagine the alternative.

Kyle put his book down. "What about friends? How do I get other children to like my child?"

Jarod raised his eyebrows in surprise. For a second he just blinked at his brother. The question caught him off guard. "Well…children will just start playing together. They'll naturally like each other."

"And if they don't?"

"I don't think that's going to be an issue."

"But it could be."

"I don't think it will." He paused and added. "When we met were fine…we became friends."

"You don't wonder if we had other kids to play with if that would be the case?"

"I did. Angelo and Miss Parker." He paused. "She was different then."

Kyle glanced down, jealousy creeping into him. He was always alone and Jarod had other friends? "You…you got to play?"

"More like snuck around. No one knew…didn't you have anyone?"

"No."

"I mean, before you were taken away."

He shook his head. "Just you." He thought about it sadly. Yet another difference between the way they were raised. It hurt to think about and he knew it wasn't Jarod's fault but he couldn't help feel jealous and a little resentful towards him for that. He picked up his book and tried to continue reading.

* * *


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

Allie folded the tiny baby clothes contentedly. Only a few of each type of clothing had been bought so far for her baby. She didn't care. She needed to prepare and nothing she ever did felt good enough.

Part of her felt guilty about some of the more recent purchases she had made, but at the same time, she didn't. They were necessary items for her baby but she supposed that she could do without the top of the line purchases. "Nonsense. Top quality for our baby." Allie said under her breath. A small smile graced her lips for two reasons. One, because she said 'nonsense' which she knew was a direct result of reading Alice in Wonderland to her baby earlier that day. And two, she realized she was taking part in her little habit of talking to her absentee husband. She was fully aware of doing it but it helped her to pretend like Kyle was perhaps in the next room, instead of across country…or perhaps even dead by now.

Her smile faded and she tried to push the thought from her mind. _'Everything's fine. Kyle's looking for me. He'll find me in time…'_ She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and felt more depressed. _'He'll find me and run the other way when he sees his wife waddling around like a penguin after eating every fish in the sea…' _

She opened the red leather baby bag and ripped open the bags of burping cloths. They were about 12 in total, all with different colours and patterns. She carefully placed them in a pile, inside the bag. They took up practically no room at all.

After that she went on to fill the large navy blue canvas duffle bag with the bags of newborn diapers, towels with little hoodies on it, a bath boat, and other necessities. The towels were her favourite because the little hoods were in different animal shapes, a bear, a duck, a rabbit, and a lion. She tilted her head, a smile passing her lips again as she held up a cute little squirt toy that was in the shape of a car. It came in a pack. A car, a train, a plane, a boat, and a chopper. Each were cartoon-like and very cute. Allie placed a hand on her stomach. "Your father would love this."

Just then, she felt a sharp jab in her back.

She gasped, dropping the toy and placing her hand to her back. Her eyes widened in shock and horror. _'Please let that be my imagination, a fluke…anything but what I think it is…'_

Allie started to calm down when after five minutes nothing else happened, but a couple more minutes passed and another sharp pain stabbed her. "No! No no no no no!" She glanced at the phone panicked, then at her purse. She hurried over to her purse, snatched it up and hurried out the door. The faster she got to the hospital, the sooner they could help her. After all, she still had a little over 6 weeks left in her pregnancy.

The cab ride was the longest 11 minutes in her life, and during that time she felt one small bit of comfort. She could still feel her baby kick her from within her stomach. It was a good sign…

* * *

Jarod went over to the sink in the corner of the room and washed his hands. He smiled to himself, pleased at having done another pretend and seeing that justice was served. One less piece of dirt taking advantage of people's misfortunes. 

He spotted his brother asleep in the middle of the room, on the cot, with a dozen books scattered around him, some on the floor, some on the bed. He considered asking him some more questions about his past.

Kyle never told him anything. He was always so secretive with him. Why? They were brothers, they should tell each other everything.

Why had it taken six months of living with each other day in and day out for him to admit that he only met Angelo a few times, and that had been when Jarod was around. Before SL-27? Jarod had been under the impression, from all the letters Angelo sent Kyle in prison, that they had been friends.

He understood now, Angelo was reaching out, because in the empath's mind, he must have known Kyle to be lonely.

Jarod wished though that Kyle would have told him sooner. Even now, Kyle shut Jarod out a great deal of time. Some things he'd talk about, other things he wouldn't. Allie was a topic that was extremely sensitive, and so was the baby. Sometimes Kyle would talk excitedly or happily about Allie, other times he'd be so grumpy that it was like trying to wake a sleeping dragon. Not the best of ideas…

"Allie." Kyle mumbled in his sleep. "Stay…" He groaned. "Don't go." His voice became incoherent but he still continued to mutter and remain sleeping.

Jarod packed up a few things, trying to ignore his brother by pretending not to overhear parts of what was undoubtedly another nightmare. He took a bag he just bought and placed it on the table, taking out a few large bag of marbles. He then went about gluing them all together.

It took a couple hours but he started to have an end product very similar to a sculpture of Miss Parker's face and hair. Well…nearly.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Jarod spun around in his chair quickly. "Oh, hi…uh…how was-"

"What are you doing?!" Kyle went up to him and glared at the bust of Miss Parker. "What is THIS? You're supposed to be looking for Allie when I'm here sleeping! And if you were done you should have woke me up instead of wasting time on this shit!" Kyle grabbed the bust of Miss Parker and threw it as hard as he could. The force sent it flying in an arch and as soon as it hit the floor the majority of the marbles broke apart and scattered about, rolling on the floor.

Jarod's mouth dropped open. "Kyle!"

"NO!!" Kyle roared at him. "You're playing stupid games that could get us both killed and we're supposed to be finding my family!!"

"It's just a friendly joke. That's all."

Kyle glared at him, balling his fists. He walked up to Jarod, wanting to punch him again and again, out of frustration and anger. How could Jarod be so clueless? "I won't risk the Centre getting me again. My family needs me…I need them. If you taunt them again I'll go and find my wife and baby on my own."

Jarod gulped nervously at his brother. The way his brother was speaking was low, threatening…dangerous. He was serious. Kyle would actually chose his wife and baby over his own brother? Not that Jarod blamed Kyle…after all, who wouldn't choose their own child? But at the same time, Jarod couldn't believe that Kyle was go so far as to turn his back on his only family. It stung.

He nodded seriously. "Okay…no more games."

Kyle sighed, turning away. He went over to the bed and began gathering up what he could.

* * *

Allie let out a sigh of relief, watching one of the doctors more than the other. The older doctor had just given her the news that she had just experienced false labour. Nothing serious, and rather quite common. The younger doctor, the intern, was there as a learning experience more than anything. "So I'm okay then?" 

"Yes, healthy as a horse."

She frowned, wishing he picked a better phrase than that. "Okay…"

"Dr. McAllister will go over any more questions you have about this and any concerns you may have." He smiled and left the room just like that.

"Dr. McAllister, why-"

"Miss Hastings, call me Andrew, please." He smiled at her warmly…in a way she couldn't remember anyone smiling at her since she had her figure several months ago.

Allie felt herself blushing at the unexpected attention. That, and the fact that Dr. McAllister was rather good looking, of course not as much as she found Kyle (in her opinion). Then there was the fact that she was never more desperate to be intimate in here life. She had no idea how she lasted so long without having sex and it literally felt like the lack of it was going to kill her.

Suddenly she was hot. Allie brushed her hair back from her face with both hands. "Why did I have false labour?"

"Oh, different reasons…sometimes it just comes down to the fact that your body is nearing the end of the pregnancy so its as though you're being tested, to see if you're ready."

"Will it happen again?"

"Possibly."

"I hope not, it's…scary." She frowned, nodding slowly at the floor. She had been trembling when she got in to see the doctor, terrified that something was wrong with her baby.

"I bet it would be, especially when you're all alone."

"I know I-" She paused and looked up at his handsome features. "Alone, why do you think I'm alone?"

"You're not wearing a wedding ring, you came in alone and no one's here by now."

"My fingers were bloated." She lifted up her chain and the rings sparkled on it.

"But no one's come here to help…have they?"

She stared at him a moment, trying to keep calm but her eyes stung and she could only think of the fact that Kyle wasn't going to be around for her baby's birth.

She burst into tears.

It wasn't quite the reaction he had hoped. "Uh, I only meant to say that you can rely on us…come in any time to talk or…" He paused and sighed. After a little while she calmed down and wiped her eyes and nose with a tissue. He continued, "any questions or if you need to talk, stop by for a visit."

She nodded and wiped her eyes again. "Thanks."

"No problem."

She got off the examining table and grabbed her purse. She thanked him again and started to leave.

"Good luck Allie…and like I said if you need…anything…" He smiled at her in a way that she couldn't quite read. She nodded and left.

She was down the hall and out of the emergency room when a thought struck her. _'Allie…he said my name…he knew my name…but he called me Miss Hastings…_' Her eyes widened and realized that in her panic state when she first came into the ER, she must have given the name Allie Hastings instead of Poppy Hastings.

Allie turned around and went back inside, back to the exam room she had just come from. Dr. McAllister wasn't there. She then wandered around for a bit until she found him. He was at the nurse's station. "Oh did you forget something?" He asked, smiling.

She nodded seriously. "Uh…when I came in I was upset, I didn't realize, I had an old name before, I mean, I changed it…legally of course and it was because of my mom, this thing where, well, now my name's Poppy, not what I said and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Allie, Miss Hastings, slow down, I can't understand you."

"My name's Poppy, not Allie. It's a recent change so I sort of forgot. You need to change it on the chart."

"You forgot your own name?"

"It's a recent change now hurry up and change it." She snapped.

He frowned at her. "Well I can't change the chart now, that's fraud." He clicked his pen, picked up a chart sitting in a slotted rack with other charts. He had just put it there so he knew which one to get, and scribbled a note next to the name. "There, I've put a note on there about your name 'Poppy'…there won't be any problems with this. Don't worry."

"No you have to…you can't have that name on there. Get rid of it!"

He flinched. "Miss Hastings, calm down I-"

"No! You have to get rid of it! They can't know!" She reached for the chart but he pulled it away in time. "Give it to me!" She screamed at him, nearly hysterical. The thought of the Centre finding her now made her want to throw up and it made her tremble, terrified.

"Miss Hastings if you don't calm down I'll be forced to call security, which is something I don't want to do in your delicate condition."

"But I didn't mean to! I was upset I wasn't thinking! Please it can't have that name on there!" She was on the verge of tears.

"I can't do anything, sorry. It's a federal offence to change medical records like that."

"Please." She begged.

"I'm sorry. I can't." Dr. McAllister held the chart against his chest and told her seriously. "I think you should go home, take a nap, calm down…you've been under some stress."

She looked at herself, then at Dr. McAllister, and then the nurses. Everyone was staring at her. She could have made a grab for the charts again, maybe even punch the doctor but she knew that she'd never make it more than ten feet before one of the nurses or security guards, or perhaps the doctor himself would catch up with her.

There were no such things as fast getaways when you were seven and a half months pregnant. She walked away, miserable and defeated. She couldn't think of what to do next.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

* * *

Kyle stared out the window, wondering what Allie was doing. A knot in his stomach formed as they drove by a playground. A man was pushing his daughter on a swing. _'I'll never have that with my baby…I'll never know if I have a daughter or a son…I'll never see Allie's smile again…' _The knot of jealousy and anger grew more and more. 

Jarod didn't understand. As much as he felt badly for Kyle, Jarod didn't understand him or how he felt. And what made it worse was that his brother seemed to be ignorant of that knowledge.

"Have you been to Minnesota before?" Jarod made an attempt at conversation as they passed a sign that read 'Decorah, Iowa 8 miles.' He waited then frowned when his brother didn't respond. "Do you want to try going to St. Paul, Minnesota?" Again, there was no response. Jarod sighed heavily. "Look Kyle I'm sorry. I got a little bored, it won't happen again."

Kyle sighed, keeping his eyes focussed out the window. "It's fine." He mumbled.

Jarod glanced at his brother uneasily, doubtful that Kyle had forgiven him; but, he didn't exactly know what to do. "So…St. Paul okay then?"

"Yeah whatever."

Jarod sighed tiredly and gave up temporarily. He didn't seem to have the energy to try to convince his brother to forgive and forget. He was more than a little frustrated. It was 2 days since their fight and Kyle was only withdrawing more as the days went on.

He was very disappointed. Very little of his reunion with his brother had been good. He loved his brother but Kyle was so preoccupied with finding his family that he didn't seem to care at all about trying to get have any fun with Jarod. He could feel their relationship crumbling and it terrified him. It wasn't exactly solid to start with.

They were family. What would he do if his family didn't _want_ to be around him?

Jarod drew in a deep breath, focussing on the road again.

It was another half hour before Kyle tore his eyes away from the window. He popped open the computer and started typing.

"What are you doing?"

"Hacking."

"Into the centre?"

Kyle gave a sound similar to a grunt.

Jarod glanced at his brother uneasily. He had the feeling Kyle was doing something stupid. He reminded his brother, "They just upgraded the new tracking system. Are you taking the necessary precautions?"

"No I'm going right through the front door."

"What? Kyle they can track us within thirty seconds that way. You know better than that."

Kyle was typing quickly, his fingers speeding as they hit the buttons. He didn't care if he was captured, he was desperate. He had to throw caution to the wind. He knew there was no other choice.

He would die for Allie any day.

Jarod was right though. There were a few back doors when it came to hacking into the Centre and he was disregarding them all.

"Kyle, turn it off."

"Not until I find her."

"Kyle, we've gone digging through Centre files a thousand times, we can't find her that way."

"We just haven't been successful."

"Put it away, what makes you think there's going to be anything in there?"

"I don't but that didn't stop me yesterday or the day before."

"Kyle it's too easy for them to track us."

The computer started beeping.

Jarod leaned over and saw the flashing red lights, warning them that they were located by the Centre. Someone already found them. "Kyle!" Jarod took a swipe at the computer but Kyle pulled away and kept typing. "They found us…KYLE!"

He ignored his brother and clicked into one file than another, finding no information. "Shit." He muttered as another file he tried to get into suddenly met with an encrypted firewall. He typed quickly, not sure why he suddenly felt possessed. Had he just gone mad? He wasn't just risking his own life here, it was his brother's life as well. Had he finally cracked for good?

"Damnit." He muttered as his attempt to break through the encryption failed. He tried again, then again. Finally, after five tries, he broke through.

A screen popped up on the screen. "I think I've got something."

"Really?" Jarod asked surprised.

"Something just came up…" Kyle blinked in shock. "Oh god."

Jarod pulled the car over, fearing the worst. "What is it? Is she okay?"

"She's in Chicago…Mercy Hospital. She's in labor."

"Hold on." Jarod turned the car around then stepped on the gas. "If we hurry we might get there in time."

"Labor…" Kyle swallowed the lump in his throat. "My baby…something's wrong…she's…she could die."

"Kyle shut off the computer." It didn't really matter now. The Centre would be waiting for them regardless how quick they were to get there.

Kyle turned off the computer slowly, half paying attention. The countryside sped by them as they went as fast as the car could go. He wanted the vehicle to go quicker but that was impossible. It was already going as fast as it could go.

* * *

Allie closed the trunk to the SUV and drew in another deep breath. She had one more bag she needed to pack. She pressed the alarm on the keys and started out of the apartment's parking garage. It was 3 blocks from the place she was staying at, which was a precaution on her part. 

She wasn't thinking rationally. If she wasn't so emotional, so…scared, she would have easily realized that it would take the Centre very little time to get to Chicago. It had already been a couple hours.

She left the parking garage and started back to her apartment, running a list of everything she had, needed, and options for what city she should move to next. Once she made it to the building she went inside and sighed heavily at the sight of the filthy stairs. It wasn't exactly the best place to live but it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

As for the stairs…there were a lot of them.

Allie grabbed hold of the railing tightly and started her way up the stairs, one slow step at a time. She muttered a curse at the absentee superintendent who kept insisting the elevators would be fixed.

She was getting tired again so she had to stop and take a few deep breaths before continuing her trip.

Allie made it two thirds of the way up the second floor when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Trying to make a speedy getaway?"

She froze. It couldn't be.

Allie gulped and turned around to face a tall dark haired man. A man she last saw almost 7 months ago.

Lyle massaged his thumbless hand. "This was almost too easy."

* * *

Allie was 'escorted' to front of the building. She had come in from the back and hadn't seen the black towncars out front. Lyle got into the one with Allie and another sweeper while the other sweepers got into the other car. 

She trembled and her mind raced. It was hard to breathe. They had her. She knew what they would do. Make her carry her little boy to full term, have him, then she'd be killed. After that her son would be exploited and tortured just as his father was.

"Please, don't take my baby…_please_. I'll do anything just don't take my baby." Her pleas were ignored as she was forced into the car.

Any struggling she did was completely useless. The car started moving and Allie knew that was the end. She pleaded some more because that was all she could do.

"You know, you should be grateful. Your baby will be well taken care of. He'll have the best education, his brain will be put to good use, and your son will have access to all the state of the art technology long before most of the country will."

"At the Centre?" She glared at him. "This is what I think of that." Allie spit on him, getting him on the cheek. There wasn't unfortunately much saliva and it wasn't nearly as dramatic as she'd hoped.

Lyle blinked then wiped the spit off his face and faked a smile. "Okay then." He became serious and tried to remember he couldn't kill her…yet.

* * *

Note - sorry for another long delay. Too many things to do in life...when I'm done the next chapter I'll post right away. Thanks! 


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